'^^  .^ 


L= 


GIFT  OF 
Prof*   C.A.   Kofoid 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/fivemonthsabroadOOscririch 


FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD, 


OB, 


THE  OBSERVATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCES 
OF  AN  EDITOR  IN  EUROPE. 


JAMES  E.  8CRIPPS, 

EDITOB  OF  TJK  DtTitOIl  EVE>J^G  HEWS. 


ILLUSTRATED 


DETROIT,  MICH. 

F.  B.  DICKERSON  &  CO.,  PUBLISHERS. 

1882. 


5  3 


COPYRIGHTED   BY 

F.  B.  DICKERSON, 


•    «  •        • 


TO 

MY  "WIFE  AND  DAUGHTER, 

THE 

COMPANIONS  OF   MY  JOURNEY, 

THIS  LITTLE  WORK 

IS  AFFECTIONATELY  DEDICATED, 


iyil019S9 


PREFACE 


The  following  record  of  a  European  tour,  made  in 
the  summer  of  1881,  appeared  in  the  first  instance  as  a 
series  of  letters  in  the  columns  of  the  Detroit  Even- 
ing News,  and  its  presentation  in  more  permanent 
shape  was  not  then  thought  of  by  the  author;  but  so 
numerous  and  apparently  sincere  were  the  solicitations 
that  it  should  be  reprinted  in  book  form,  that  he  could 
not,  without  ingratitude,  allow  them  to  pass  unheeded. 
In  preparing  the  work  for  the  press  much  of  it  has  been 
entirely  rewritten,  the  form  changed  from  letters  to 
chapters,  and  one  or  two  entirely  new  chapters  added. 
The  illustrations  are  mostly  original,  and  were  engraved 
from  photographs  collected  by  the  author  in  the  course 
of  his  journey. 

The  aim  in  the  preparation  of  the  work  has  been 
three-fold:  First,  to  convey  to  the  reader  as  graphic  an 
idea  as  possible  of  what  he  would  see  and  how  probably 
be  impressed  were  he  himself  to  make  the  same  journey; 
Second,  to  interweave  with  the  narrative  of  travel  such 
an  amount  of  collateral  historical  and  biographical  fact 
as  should  make  the  book  valuable  as  a  medium  of  gen- 
eral information;  and,  Third,\}j  frequent  reference  and 
allusion  to  make  the  work  somewhat  of  a  basis  for  and 
stimulus  to  culture  in  the  realms  of  art  and  literature. 


VI  PREFACE. 

If  it  shall  incite  the  reader  to  further  reading  and 
research,  one  of  its  principal  aims,  indeed,  will  have 
been  accomplished. 

It  may  be  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  the  book  is 
addressed  in  the  main  to  western  people  of  ordinary 
information — to  the  intelligent  farmers  and  mechanics 
of  Michigan  and  neighboring  states;  and  that  it  makes 
no  pretense  to  either  high  literary  merit  or  infallibility 
in  every  statement.  All  reasonable  care  has  neverthe- 
less been  given  to  render  it  both  intelligent  and  trust- 
worthy. 

JAMES  E.  SCRIPPS. 

Detroit,  January,  1883. 


CONTENTS, 


CHAPTER  I.                                     p^oK 
How  to  Prepare  for  a  European  Tour— The  Selection  of  a  Eoute— Intel- 
lectual Preparation— The  Cost  and  How  to  Provide  for  it— What 
Baggage  to  Take— The  Voyage— Life  at  Sea 13 

CHAPTER  II. 
Arrival  in  England — Liverpool  and  its  Wonderful  Coxomercial  Develop- 
ment—Chester and  its  Antiquities— English  Hotels— Cheap  Cab 
Fares 20 

CHAPTER  HI. 

English  Railways— Admirable  Depots— Superiority  of  English  Cars- 
Cheap  Fares  and  the  Enormous  Traffic  they  Create 28 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Ijondon— How  Holidays  are  Observed— Albert  Memorial  Hall— The  Mes- 
siah—The Foimdling  Hospital— Tourists'  Tickets  for  the  Continent,    85 

CHAPTER  V. 

Crossing  to  the  Continent— Appearance  of  the  Country  in  France  and 
Belg^ium- Brussels— A  Continental  Hotel — A  Handsome  City — 
Lace  Manufacture— The  Kingdom  of  Belgium— Antwerp — Rubens 
and  his  Paintings— Belgian  Wood  Carving— A  Calvary 40 

CHAPTER  VI. 

In  Germany  — Aix-la-Chapelle  and  its  Memories  of  Charlemagne  — 
Cologne  and  its  Cathedral— The  Rhine  and  its  Romantic  Scenery — 
Mayence  the  Birthplace  of  Printing  — Frankfort  — Goethe  — The 
Rothschilds 51 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Bavaria— The  Ancient  City  of  Nuremberg— Munich  and  its  Picture  Gal- 
leries— Its  Bronze  Foundry— German  Tree  Culture — German  Coin- 
age—Freedom from  Pauperism— Continental  Sundays 63 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
The  T^yrol— Innsbruck— Hofer  the  Patriot— Maximilian's  Tomb— Over  the 

Alps  by  the  Brenner  Pass— Arrival  in  Italy 72 


vm  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IX.  PAGE 

Italy — ^Verona,  its  Arena  and  Churches — Padua — Arcaded  Streets — The 

Shrine  of  St.  Anthony— Italian  Agriculture 78 

CHAPTER  X. 

Venice— Its  History— First  Impressions— Its  Canals— The  Church  of  St. 

Mark — ^Venetian  Art 84 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Bologna  and  its  Leaning  Towers— Over  the  Apennines , 96 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Florence— The  Protestant  Cemetery— The  Cathedral— The  Art  Galleries  100 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  Great  Historic  Characters  of  Florence— The  Medici  Family— Lor- 
enzo the  Magnificent  —  Pope  Leo  X.  —  Catharine  and  Marie  de 
Medici— Savonarola 112 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Rome — The  Journey  Thither— Appearance  of  the  City — The  Castle  of 

St.  Angelo— St.  Peters 121 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Rome— Its  more  Famous  Churches— The  Vatican— The  Galleries  of  Sculp- 
tures—Shelley's Grave— Mosaics 133 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
Ancient  Rome— The  Fonmis— The  Palaces  of  the  Caesars— The  Colos- 
seum—The Pantheon— The  Appian  Way— The  Catacombs  and  the 
Mamertine  Prison 140 

CHAPTER  XVII.  ' 
Pisa  and  its  Leaning  Tower— Genoa,  the  Birthplace  of  Columbus— The 

Battlefields  of  Italy— Turin— Arcaded  Streets 151 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Milan— Its  Cathedral— The  Gallerie— Da  Vinci's  Last  Supper— The  Italian 

Exposition — San  Carlo  and  the  Borromean  Isles 159 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

The  Picture  Galleries  of  Europe— The  Over-estimate  of]  the  Old  Masters 
—Notices  of  some  of  the  Italian  Masters  and  their  Works — The 
Two  Great  Spanish  Painters 167 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Among  the  Alps — The  Simplon  Pass— Brieg— Martigny— Chamounix — 

Mont  Blanc— A  Glacier 177 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
Switzerland— A  Beautiful  Ride— Geneva— Lausanne— Freiburg— Bern- 
Bale— The  Swiss  Republic 187 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS.  ix 

CHAPTER  XXn.  PAGE 

Into  Germany   Again  —  Border  Customs  Extortions  — Strassburg— Its 

Storks— The  Cathedral— A  Ghastly  Exhibition 302 

CHAPTER  XXm. 

Paris— Impressions  on  Arriving  there — The  Boulevards,  Streets  and 
Buildings — Topography  of  the  City— The  Tuileries— Place  de  la 
Concorde— Arc  de  Triomphe— The  Madeleine— Column  Vendome— 
Grand  Opera  House— The  Louvre— Hotel  de  Ville— Notre  Dame— 
Jardin  des  Plantes— The  Luxembourg— The  Invalides— Champ  de 
Mars 208 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Paris  in  its  Relation  to  French  History— The  Reigns  and  Revolutions  of 
Three  Centuries — The  Bois  de  Boulogne— Pere  la  Chaise  Cemetery 
— The  Omnibuses  and  Shops  of  Paris— The  National  Archives. . . . .  223 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

The  Art  Galleries  of  Paris— The  Art  School— The  Salon— The  Luxem- 
bourg—The Louvre— St.  Denis— Versailles— The  Seine— Sevres  and 
the  National  Porcelain  Factory 240 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

Through  Normandy— Rouen— Dieppe— Temperance— Politics  in  France 

—French  Money 251 

CHAPTER  XXVn. 
Back  in  England— Brighton— London  Contrasted  with  Paris— English  Old 
Fogyism— How  London  is  Governed- Topography  of  the  British 
MetropoUs 254 

CHAPTER  XXVin. 

The  Tower  of  London— The  City  Library— St.  Paul's— The  Thames  Em- 
bankment—A Relic  of  Franklin— Whitehall— The  Houses  of  Parlia- 
ment—Westminster Abbey 267 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

London  and  Art— The  British  Museum— The  National  Gallery— The  Great 
Flemish,  Dutch  and  German  Masters— The  South  Kensington 
Museum 281 

CHAPTER  XXX. 
London— The  Waxworks— Crystal  Palace— English  Twilights— Law  Prac- 
tice in  England— Land  Tenures— Limited  Liability  Companies- 
Temperance  and  Profanity 296 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

Ctenealogical  Research— An  Old  English  Cathedral  Town— Parish  Rec- 
ords of  250  Years  Ago — How  Surnames  Become  Changed  and  Cor- 
rupted—The Heralds'  Office 3n« 


X  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXXII.                              p^gk 
The  English  Cathedrals— Their  Officers,  Services  and  Architecture— The 
Religious  Condition  of  England— The  High  and  Low  Church  Con- 
troversy   317 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

The  Summer  Aspect  of  England— Windsor  Castle— The  Albert  Memorial 

Chapel— Bath  and  its  Abbey 330 

CHAPTER   XXXIV. 

A  Two  Days'  Ramble  in  the  South  of  England— Exeter— Torquay— Honi- 

ton— Winchester— Salisbury— Stonehenge 339 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

Bristol— Its  History,  Trade,  Antiquities,  Famous  Residents,  Topography 

"and  Churches— George  Muller's  Orphan  Houses 351 

CHAPTER   XXXVI. 

Chepstow  Castle— Tintern  Abbey— Gloucester  and  its  Cathedral— Wor- 
cester Cathedral— Stratford-on- Avon— Shakspeare's  Birthplace  and 
Tomb 364 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

Warwick  Castle— Leamington — Kenilworth— Coventry— Lady  Godiva — 
Birmingham— Lichfield— The  Cathedral— Eccentric  Architecture 
—Dr.  Johnson 375 

CHAPTER  XXXVin. 

Lincoln— Hull — Beverly — York  —  Ripon — Fountains  Abbey — Durham — 
The  Venerable  Bede— Lindisfame 388 

CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

Edinburgh- The  New  and  Old  Town— The  Castle— St.  Giles'  Cathedral 
—John  Knox— Holyrood  Palace— Mary  Queen  of  Scots  and  her 
Tragic  Career 402 

CHAPTER  XL. 

Melrose  Abbey— Abbotsford—Dryburgh  Abbey— Roslin  Chapel— Sir  Wal- 
•  ter  Scott— Stirling— The  Scottish  Lakes  and  Highlands— The  Lady 
of  the  Lake— The  Trossachs 418 

CHAPTER  XLI. 

Glasgow  and  its  History — Its  Cathedral,  River  and  Commerce — Dum- 
fries, the  Home  of  Burns— His  Tomb— Gretna  Green — The  Solway 
and  its  Cruel  Memories 431 

CHAPTER  XLII. 

Carlisle— Barrow-in-Fumess-Coal  Mining— The  English  Postoffice — Eng- 
lish Wants  and  Free  Trade— Cheap  Living— Light  Work— Obedi- 
ence to  Law— Conclusion 441 

Index 453 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Ruins  of  Tintern  Abbey,         .         .         .     Froittispiece 

Page. 

Map  of  the  Route, facing       14 

An  Ocean  Steamer, 19 

A  Continental  Tree, 50 

A  Venetian  Gondola,  .  .  .  .  '  .  .95 
The  Leaning  Towers  of  Bologna,  .  .  facing  96 
The  Palazzo  Vecchio,  Florence,  .  .  .  .106 
The  Ponte  Yecchio,  Florence,     .         .         .         .         109 

Lorenzo  the  Magnificent, 114 

Savonarola, 120 

Tomb  of  Cgecilia  Metella,  Rome,    .         .         .         .149 

View  of  Genoa,  . facing     154 

An  Ecce  Homo, 176 

View  of  a  Glacier  in  the  Valley  of  Chamounix, 

facing     184 

A  Diligence, 186 

A  Swiss  Fountain, '        .         201 

Storks'  Nests  at  Strassburg,  .  .  .  facing  204 
The  Arc  de  Triomphe,  Paris,  .  .  .  .  222 
The  Tower  of  London,  from  the  Thames,       .         .280 

Ely  Cathedral, facing     310 

Ruins  of  Dryburgh  Abbey,     .         .         .       facing     422 


9  9       •  ,  5    ''       •  " 


FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD, 


CHAPTER  I. 

HOW  TO  PREPARE  FOR  A  EUROPEAN  TOUR— THE  SELECTION  OF 
A  ROUTE— INTELLECTUAL  PREPARATION  —  THE  COST  AND 
HOW  TO  PROVIDE  FOR  IT— WHAT  BAGGAGE  TO  TAKE  — THE 
VOYAGE  — LIFE   AT   SEA. 

C^  S  a  rule  people  who  travel  are  of  an  intelli- 
Jfi  gent  class,  though  I  have  met  persons  who 
^1 V  traveled  merely  for  the  sake  of  traveling, 
with  no  definite  object  in  view,  no  knowledge  of 
the  history  and  associations  of  the  places  they 
visited,  and  little  or  no  appreciation  of  the  beau- 
ties and  curiosities  of  the  countries  they  passed 
through.  It  need  hardly  be  said  that  travel  in 
such  cases  furnishes  but  very  little  of  either  plea- 
sure or  profit. 

If  one  contemplates  a  European  tour  the  first 
thing  to  do  is  to  decide  upon  the  route.  A  list 
may  be  made  of  such  places  as  the  person  espe- 
cially desires  to  visit,  and  with  a  map  before  him 
a  route  may  easily  be  outlined  that  shall  take  in 
these  points  and  the  more  important  intermediate 
ones.     In  my  own  case,  as  illustration,  I  partic- 


14    ^ ;  ^  :    \ :  i:iy^  Months  abroad. 

tiUriyl  ^lslied:to  see  Cologne  cathedral,  reputed 
the  Meist  GbtMb  chtircii  in  the  world,  the  famous 
Rhine  scenery,  ISTiiremberg,  the  best  preserved 
mediseval  city  in  Europe,  the  romantic  city  of 
Venice,  art-cultured  Florence,  historic  Rome, 
Pisa  with  its  famous  leaning  tower,  the  much 
talked  of  Italian  lakes,  the  mountain  scenery  of 
Switzerland,  Paris,  the  world's  metropolis  of 
fashion,  elegance  and  culture,  and  lastly  the  old 
cathedrals,  ruined  abbeys,  castles  and  picturesque 
natural  scenery  of  England  and  Scotland.  I  there- 
fore traced  out  a  route  embracing  Liverpool, 
London,  Antwerp,  Brussels,  Cologne,  Mayence, 
Frankfort  -  on  -  the  -  Main,  Nuremberg,  Munich, 
Innsbruck,  Yerona,  Venice,  Padua,  Bologna, 
Florence,  Rome,  Pisa,  Genoa,  Turin,  Milan,  the 
Simplon  Pass,  Martigny,  Chamounix,  Geneva, 
Lausanne,  Berne,  Bale,  Strassburg,  Paris,  Rouen, 
Dieppe,  and  so  back  to  England  which  being  a 
small  country  and  easily  covered  less  required  a 
pre-arranged  route. 

The  route  decided  upon,  the  next  proper  step 
is  the  posting  up  of  one's  self  upon  the  geogra- 
phy, history,  associations  and  attractions  of  the 
countries  and  cities  passed  through.  .The  more 
fully  this  is  done,  of  course,  the  better  will  the 
traveler  be  equipped  for  his  journey.  Particu- 
larly in  historical  matters  would  I  recommend  the 
jotting  down  in  a  sort  of  commonplace  book  the 


[(iuttHsti 


^  trait  ce^  \\ 


THE  ROUTE. 


Heavy  dotted  lines  (• 
Light  bi-«.)ken  lines  (- 


'•)  national  boundaries. 

-)  the  route  taken  by  the  author. 


PRELIMINARY  PREPARATIONS.  15 

more  important  facts,  such  as  dates  and  succes- 
sions, for  reference  to  while  traveling,  as  such 
information  is  often  very  difficult  to  obtain  away 
from  home.  In  this  intellectual  preparation  for 
the  journey,  encyclopsedias,  school  histories,  and 
the  descriptive  articles  that  so  often  appear  in 
our  leading  magazines,  will  be  found  very  service- 
able. 

The  next  thing  is  to  provide  money  for  the 
journey.  The  passage  from  New  York  to  Liver- 
pool and  return  may  be  put  down  roughly  at 
from  $100  to  $200,  according  to  the  amount  of 
luxury  indulged  in  on  the  voyage.  The  railroad 
and  steamboat  fares  on  the  continent  may  be  put 
at  $100  to  $125,  hotels  about  $2.50  a  day,  and 
some  allowance  must  be  made  for  purchases  from 
the  great  stocks  of  pretty  things  that  will  con- 
stantly meet  the  eye  while  in  Europe.  I  have 
known  people  to  make  a  European  tour  and  be 
home  in  a  month  or  six  weeks ;  two  to  three 
months  is  a  very  common  time  to  devote  to  the 
trip,  but  I  found  the  interest  of  travel  to  be  well 
maintained  during  a  period  of  five  months.  Hav- 
ing settled  on  the  amount  of  money  necessary  for 
the  trip  and  purchased  one's  passage  tickets,  the 
next  step  is  to  procure  a  letter  of  credit  for  such 
sum  as  will  probably  be  required  for  use  after 
landing  in  Europe.  Such  letters  of  credit  are 
issued  by  various  New  York  banking  houses,  and 


16  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

may  easily  be  obtained  through  local  banks  or 
bankers.  These  letters  of  credit  may  be  drawn 
against  in  any  amounts,  large  or  small  as 
required,  at  any  of  a  hundred  or  more  different 
banks  scattered  through  all  the  principal  cities  of 
Europe.  A  very  small  fee  is  charged  for  the 
cashing  of  each  draft,  not  more  perhaps  alto- 
gether than  the  interest  the  undrawn  deposits 
will  earn.  The  safety,  economy  and  convenience 
of  this  method  of  carrying  one's  funds  can  never 
be  appreciated  until  it  has  been  tried. 

Then  comes  the  packing  for  the  journey.  As 
little  baggage  as  possible  should  be  taken,  and  it 
is  astonishing  how  little  a  person  can  get  along 
with.  One,  or  at  most  two,  suits  of  clothes,  or 
dresses,  will  usually  be  sufficient,  as  additional 
clothing  can  be  easily  and  cheaply  procured  any- 
where on  the  journey,  should  it  be  required. 
Nor  is  a  great  amount  of  underwear  essential,  as 
one  can  get  washing  done  at  any  hotel  without 
much  delay.  Warmer  clothing  should  be  taken 
than  would  ordinarily  be  worn  at  home  in  the 
summer  season,  as  on  the  Atlantic,  in  the  moun- 
tain regions,  and  generally  through  England  and 
Scotland  the  climate  is  much  cooler  than  it  aver- 
ages in  the  United  States.  A  heavy  winter  over- 
coat and  a  traveling  rug  will  be  found  indispen- 
sable on  the  voyage,  but  these  may  be  left  at 
Liverpool  till  the  return,  so  they  hardly  count  as 


THE  VOYAGE.  17 

baggage.  A  reclining  steamer  chair,  purchasable 
in  New  York  for  $2.50  to  $3.50,  will  be  found  of 
great  comfort  for  nse  on  deck  and  may  also  be 
left  at  Liverpool. 

Leaving  New  York  we  steam  down  the  harbor, 
through  the  Narrows,  as  the  strait  which  separ- 
ates Long  Island  from  Staten  Island  at  the  point 
of  their  nearest  approach  is  called,  past  Sandy- 
Hook,  a  long  spit  of  land  running  out  from  the 
New  Jersey  shore,  and,  in  two  hours  after  cast- 
ing off  the  lines  at  the  pier  in  North  River,  we 
are  fairly  out  at  sea.  Our  course  lies  consider- 
ably to  the  north  of  east,  Liverpool  being  about 
thirteen  degrees,  or,  in  round  numbers,  800  miles 
north  of  the  latitude  of  New  York.  The  distance 
by  the  route  usually  taken  is  about  3,085  miles, 
and  about  ten  days  may  ordinarily  be  reckoned 
upon  as  the  time  for  the  passage.  Twenty-four 
hours,  however,  before  reaching  Liverpool,  we 
touch  at  Queenstown,  on  the  south-east  coast 
of  Ireland,  to  land  the  mails,  and  from  this  time 
the  voyage  seems  practically  at  an  end. 

For  the  first  few  days  after  sailing,  if  the  sea 
be  at  all  rough,  one  is  very  apt  to  suffer  from  an 
entire  loss  of  appetite  and  more  or  less  sea- sick- 
ness. The  sensation  is  one  of  great  misery,  espe- 
cially with  the  reflection  constantly  haunting  one 
that  his  wretchedness  may  be  of  ten  days'  continu- 
ance.    However,  with  most  people  this  wears  off 


18  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

in  a  few  days,  and  the  latter  part  of  tlie  voyage, 
with  the  animating  prospect  of  soon  being  in  port, 
becomes  quite  enjoyable.  On  the  leading  lines 
of  steamers  the  state-rooms  are  clean  and  well  ven- 
tilated, and  a  table  is  set  superior  even  to  that  of 
the  majority  of  first-class  hotels.  If  the  weather 
is  pleasant  it  is  wonderful  how  quickly  the  time 
passes.  We  get  up  in  the  morning,  take  a  stroll 
on  deck,  breakfast  at  eight,  stand  or  lie  around 
in  groups  watching  the  waves  or  chatting,  are 
served  with  beef  tea  at  eleven,  at  noon  the  chart 
with  the  progress  of  the  ship  for  the  past  24  hours 
marked  upon  it,  and  which  is  suspended  in  a 
frame  in  the  companion-way,  engrosses  the  atten- 
tion, at  one  comes  lunch,  and  at  six  o'clock 
dinner,  with  tea  or  coffee  still  later  if  one  cares 
for  it.  The  intervals  are  filled  up  with  i^rome- 
nades  on  deck  and  games  of  shovel-board  or 
quoits.  Shovel-board  is  played  with  a  number 
of  circular  pieces  of  wood  perhaps  six  inches  in 
diameter  which  are  slid  over  the  smooth  deck, 
being  propelled  by  a  sort  of  cue,  the  object  being 
to  place  them  on  certain  squares  marked  with 
chalk  on  the  deck,  the  squares  being  numbered 
from  one  to  nine  and  the  players  counting  the 
sum  of  the  numbers  of  the  squares  upon  which 
their  blocks  rest  after  all  have  played.  In  the 
smoking-room  cards  help  to  pass  the  time;  in  the 
saloon,  music  and  reading.     Every  steamer  now 


AMUSEMENTS  AT  SEA.  19 

has  its  piano  and  library.  But  as  we  are  journey- 
ing eastward  the  clocks  have  to  be  set  on  half-an- 
hour  every  day,  and  the  fact  that  the  days  thus 
have  but  twenty-three  and  a  half  hours  perhaps 
helps  to  make  the  time  seem  short. 

The  best  months  in  which  to  cross  the  Atlantic 
are  May,  June,  July  and  August,  but  one  is 
liable  in  any  of  these  months  to  encounter  a  rough 
passage,  and  may,  in  like  manner,  enjoy  a  smooth 
one  even  in  December. 

The  intense  delight  of  sailing  into  the  lovely 
harbor  of  Queenstown  can  only  be  appreciated 
by  those  who  have  experienced  it.  It  takes  but 
half-an-hour  to  transfer  a  few  tons  of  mail  bags 
to  the  tender  that  comes  out  into  the  harbor  to 
meet  our  steamship,  and  we  proceed  immediately 
on  our  way  to  Liverpool,  keeping  much  of  the 
time  in  sight  of  the  Irish  and  Welsh  coasts. 


AN  OCEAN  STEAMER. 


CHAPTER  II. 

ARRIVAL  IN  ENGLAND-LIVERPOOL  AND  ITS  WONDERFUL  COM- 
MERCIAL DEVELOPMENT— CHESTER  AND  ITS  ANTIQUITIES- 
ENGLISH  HOTELS-CHEAP  CAB  FARES. 

N  the  occasion  of  my  trip  the  enjoyment  of 
arriving  at  Liverpool  was  greatly  marred  by 
the  fogs,  which  utterly  obscured  all  sight 
of  land  even  after  we  had  dropped  anchor  in  the 
Mersey,  and  by  a  drizzling  rain  in  which  we 
landed.  The  customs  restrictions  in  this  glorious 
country  of  free  trade  offer  no  annoyance  to  trav- 
elers, and  only  if  there  is  reason  to  believe 
they  have  spirits  or  tobacco  or  reprints  of  Eng- 
lish copyright  books  among  their  baggage,  is  it 
subject  to  anything  like  an  examination.  Six- 
pence (12  cents)  for  each  trunk  pays  the  dock 
porters'  fee  for  all  the  necessary  handling  till  it 
reaches  our  "fly,"  or  one-horse  hack,  and  a  shil- 
ling (24  cents)  carries  us  to  any  hotel  in  the  city. 
Liverpool  is  usually  passed  over  by  travelers, 
who  upon  landing  hasten  to  take  the  first  trains 
for  London.  But  it  merits  more  attention.  It  is 
one  of  those  cities  like  Venice,  Florence,  Ant- 
werp, and  many  others  on  the  continent,  which, 
having  grown  wealthy  by  trade,  has  turned  its 


LIVERPOOL.  21 

attention  to  culture,  art  and  luxurious  elegance. 
One  wealthy  merchant  has  founded  a  free  public 
library  of  70,000  volumes,  and  built  for  its  accom- 
modation a  palatial  stone  edifice.  Another  has 
founded  a  free  art  gallery  which  already  contains 
many  valuable  treasures.  St.  George's  hall,  one 
of  the  finest  in  the  country,  and  containing  one 
of  the  largest  organs,  upon  which  weekly  recitals 
are  given  at  popular  prices  (12  cents)  to  the  music 
loving  public,  is  one  of  the  chief  landmarks  of 
Liverpool.  Then  within  the  past  ten  years  the 
€ity  has  purchased  and  improved,  at  a  cost  of 
about  $2,000,000,  a  fine  public  park,  known  as 
Sefton  park.  Architecturally,  too,  Liverpool  is 
becoming  a  very  beautiful  city.  It  has  lately 
been  made  the  see  of  a  bishop^  and  an  elegant 
cathedral  church  is  looked  forward  to.  But  the 
docks  and  other  commercial  conveniences  are 
still  the  chief  feature  of  the  city.  Extending 
for  eight  miles  up  and  down  the  Mersey  there 
are  a  great  number  of  docks  or  basins  in  which 
vessels  can  lie  to  load  or  unload  without  being 
affected  by  the  tides  which  here  rise  and  fall  ten 
or  a  dozen  feet.  The  entire  area  of  these  docks 
is  over  four  hundred  and  thirty  acres,  and  twenty- 
eight  miles  of  wharf  is  afforded  by  them.  They 
are  managed  by  a  commission  of  twenty-eight 
members,  elected  by  the  great  body  of  dock 
rate-payers,  who    serve    without    compensation. 


22  FIVE  MOXTHS  ABROAD. 

The  capital  needed  for  tlieir  construction  from 
time  to  time  lias  been  raised  by  loan.  Their 
entire  cost  has  reached  the  enormous  sum  of 
$100,000,000,  and  the  commissioners  have  a  debt 
of  $70,000,000  still  outstanding.  Each  dock  is 
surrounded  by  extensive  warehouses,  and  these 
again  by  high  walls. 

Two  centuries  ago  Liverpool  was  an  insignifi- 
cant fishing  village,  with  but  about  one  thousand 
inhabitants.  There  were  then  several  j^orts  on  the 
coast  possessing  equal  or  even  sui)erior  natural 
advantages.  In  1703  the  first  dock,  a  small  one 
three  acres  in  extent,  was  constructed,  and  from 
this  beginning  dates  Liverpool's  wonderful  com- 
mercial greatness. 

The  landing  stage  is  another  notable  work.  It 
is  an  immense  floating  wharf,  eighty  feet  wide  and 
half  a  mile  in  length,  anchored  a  few  rods  from 
the  bank  of  the  river  and  connected  with  it  by 
eight  bridges.  Of  course  it  rises  and  falls  with 
the  tide,  and  thus  presents  a  wharf  of  uniform 
height  at  all  times  for  the  smaller  steamers  and 
ferries  to  land  at.  Upon  it  are  built  customs 
offices,  waiting  and  refreshment  rooms  and  all 
other  conveniences. 

The  streets  of  Liverpool  are  kept  beautifully 
clean  and  well  paved.  The  American  is  particu- 
larly struck  with  the  shop  windows,  in  v/hich 
goods   are   displayed   to  an  extent  and  with  an 


CHESTER  23 

attractiveness  nnknown  in  our  coimtry.  Inside, 
the  stores  are  nsnally  inferior  to  ours,  but  the 
street  display  is  magnificent.  Often  the  windows 
are  so  filled  that  the  store  behind  is  completely 
darkened  and  gas  must  be  used  at  all  times. 
Another  striking  feature,  and  one  I  think  Amer- 
ican merchants  would  do  well  to  imitate  more 
generally,  is  the  ticketing  of  every  article  dis- 
played in  the  windows  with  the  price  in  bold 
figures,  a  matter  of  great  convenience  to  cus- 
tomers. 

At  Liverpool,  being  within  an  hour's  ride  of 
Chester,  one  of  the  best  preserved  mediseval  cities 
in  England,  travelers  generally  improve  the  oppor- 
tunity to  visit  it.  It  is  a  charming  little  place 
of  about  forty  thousand  inhabitants,  with  noth- 
ing but  its  antiquity  to  support  it.  It  is  believed 
to  be  the  j)erpetuation  of  a  Roman  military  camp, 
the  plan  of  the  streets  conforming  to  those  of  the 
usual  camp  of  a  Roman  legion.  It  is  surrounded 
by  a  wall  about  two  miles  in  circuit,  part  of 
which  is  no  doubt  of  Roman  construction,  and 
the  summit  of  which  forms  a  delightful  prome- 
nade. The  houses  are  mostly  of  the  gabled  sort 
with  each  story  projecting  a  little  farther  into  the 
street  than  the  one  below  it,  such  as  was  the 
usual  style  of  building  three  or  four  hundred 
years  ago.  Some  have  their  timbers  richly  carved, 
and  all  present  a  very  quaint  appearance.     But 


24  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

the  greatest  oddities  are  the  ^'Rows."  In  the 
business  thoroughfares  both  the  first  and  second 
stories  of  the  buildings  are  devoted  to  stores, 
those  in  the  second  story  being  recessed  back 
fifteen  or  twenty  feet  so  as  to  open  upon  a  cov- 
ered gallery  running  over  the  to^Ds  of  the  stores 
below.  These  are  the  ''Rows,"  and  all  the  best 
stores  are  found  in  them.  On  rainy  days  ladies 
can  do  their  shopping  without  at  all  exposing 
themselves  to  the  weather,  except  it  be  at  street 
crossings  where  of  course  they  must  descend  to 
the  street  level.  They  are  very  curious  and 
interesting. 

One  of  the  principal  antiquities  of  Chester  is 
the  church  of  St.  John  the  Baptist.  Its  erection 
was  begun  in  the  year  1067,  the  year  after  the 
]N"orman  conquest.  The  nave  is  a  fine  specimen 
of  earl}^  Norman  architecture,  with  massive  pil- 
lars Ave  feet  in  diameter.  Part  of  the  church  is 
a  picturesque  ruin;  part  has  in  recent  times  been 
restored  for  public  worship.  The  old  tower, 
one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high,  stands  a  little 
detached  from  the  church  itself.  It  is  very 
massive,  with  walls  eight  feet  thick  and  some 
carvings  upon  them  which  must  once  have  been 
very  rich.  But  the  old  tower  looked  very  shaky 
when  we  saw  it,  and  a  great  part  of  it  fell  with 
a  crash  the  day  after  we  were  there,  destroying 
in  its  fall  the  beautiful  Early   English   Gothic 


ENGLISH  HOTELS.  25 

porcli  of  tlie  church.  It  is  however  to  be  rebuilt. 
St.  John's  was  at  one  time  the  cathedral  church 
of  the  united  dioceses  of  Lichfield,  Coventry  and 
Chester.  It  was  superseded  some  five  or  six 
hundred  years  ago  by  the  present  cathedral, 
a  fine  old  structure,  but  much  dilapidated  from 
the  softness  of  the  red  sandstone  of  which  it 
is  built.  When  I  last  saw  the  cathedral,  in  1864, 
it  was  in  doubt  whether  it  was  worth  restoring, 
but  the  question  seems  to  have  been  settled  in  the 
affirmative  as  considerable  work  has  already  been 
done  upon  it.  One  of  the  most  notable  objects 
in  it  is  the  tomb  of  Bishop  Pearson,  author  of 
the  famous  Exposition  of  the  Creed.  We  attended 
service  at  the  cathedral,  and  had  the  pleasure  of 
hearing  the  eminent  Dean  Howson,  the  joint 
author  with  Conybeare  of  the  well  known  Life  of 
St.  Paul. 

The  English  hotels  are  very  different  from 
what  we  are  accustomed  to  at  home.  Instead  of 
the  characteristic  American  hotel  clerk,  ladies  are 
almost  invariably  found  at  the  desk.  There  is  no 
registering  as  with  us,  but  the  guest  having  been 
assigned  a  room  is  known  only  as  the  occupant 
of  such  and  such  a  number.  There  are  no  regular 
meal  hours,  but  the  guest  orders  his  meals  at 
such  times  as  best  suit  his  convenience,  and  they 
are  served  either  in  his  private  parlor  or  in  the 
coffee  room,  as  he  may  prefer.     There  is  no  bill  of 


26  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

fare  from  which  to  select,  and  being  thns  depend 
ent  on  his  own  knoAvledge  of  the  dishes  possible 
to  produce,  it  not  infrequently  hapj)ens  that  the 
stranger  fares  rather  badly  from  his  ignorance  of 
how  to  order  a  meal.  This  having  to  order  spe- 
cially everything  one  eats  is  the  chief  annoyance 
of  English  hotel  life.  Otherwise  they  are  gen- 
erally very  comfortable  places  of  sojourn,  being 
more  quiet  and  more  resembling  private  house- 
holds than  the  hotels  of  this  country.  One  sees 
very  little  of  his  fellow  guests,  and  may  be  for 
days  at  a  large  hotel  with  a  good  custom  and  still 
fancy  himself  almost  the  only  visitor.  The  hotels 
are  less  elegantly  fitted  up  than  those  of  corres- 
ponding position  in  America,  but  they  are  usually 
not  at  all  inferior  in  the  matter  of  comfort.  The 
guest  is  charged  so  much  per  day  for  his  room, 
a  certain  other  amount,  usually  one  shilling  or 
eighteen  pence,  for  attendance,  and  for  his  meals 
according  to  what  he  orders.  A  plain  breakfast  of 
bread,  or  toast,  and  butter  and  coffee  generally 
costs  about  eighteen  pence  (36  cents),  with  cold 
meat  it  would  perhaps  be  two  shillings,  and  with 
hot  meat  two  and  sixpence  (60  cents).  In  the  case 
of  dinner,  all  the  different  items,  soujj,  fish,  joint, 
*'  sweets,"  and  dessert  are  reckoned  separately, 
and  the  cost  will  range  from  two  and  sixpence  to 
^ye  shillings  (60  cents  to  $1.20).  On  leaving  it  is 
customary  to  give  the  waiters  who  have  attended 


CHEAP  CAB  FARES.  27 

you  a  small  fee,  but  this  is  altogether  optional. 
English  hotels  would  be  more  desirable  if  they 
were  more  generally  equipped  with  elevators,  or 
''lifts"  as  they  are  called  in  that  country. 

Cab  fare  is  very  cheap  in  England.  For  one 
or  two  persons,  for  any  reasonable  distance,  the 
fare  is  but  a  shilling,  or  but  about  one-half  what 
is  charged  in  this  country.  So,  too,  with  car- 
riages hired  at  a  livery  stable,  rates  do  not  exceed 
one-half  what  we  are  accustomed  to  at  home. 


ABMS  OF  GREAT  BRITAIN. 


CHAPTER  III. 

:english  railways—admirable   depots— superiority   of 
,    english  cars-cheap  fares  and  the  enormous  traffic 
they  create. 

n|  1 AVING  seen  Liveri")ool  and  Chester,  we 
?T  take  our  journey  to  London.  The  rail- 
^  ]  ^  ways  of  England  are,  for  the  most  part, 
grouped  into  eight  or  ten  great  systems,  all  cen- 
tering in  London,  and  each  confining  itself  to  a 
particular  part  of  England,  but  so  overlapping  in 
territory  that  from  almost  any  town  of  import- 
ance to  another  a  choice  of  two  lines  may  be  had; 
and  thus  a  healthy  competition  is  maintained. 
Still  rates  are  uniform  and  there  is  no  cutting, 
the  managers  rather  cultivating  custoin  by  seeing 
how  attractive  they  can  make  their  lines  respect- 
ively. The  principal  railway  systems  are  the 
Great  Western,  the  London  &  Northwestern,  the 
Midland,  the  Great  Northern,  the  Northeastern, 
the  Great  Eastern,  the  London,  Chatham  & 
Dover,  the  London,  Brighton  &  South  Coast,  and 
the  London  &  Southwestern.  It  is  very  rare  that 
either  highways  or  other  railways  are  crossed  at 
grade,  and  consequently  not  only  are  there  few 
accidents  from  collisions  or  obstructions  on  the 


ENGLISH  RAILWAY  STATIONS.  29 

track,  but  a  much  higher  rate  of  speed  is  possible 
than  with  us.  The  towns  and  cities  are  usually 
entered  at  a  level  above  that  of  the  streets,  which 
are  crossed  by  viaducts,  the  passengers  reach- 
ing the  station  by  stairs.  The  stations,  they  are 
never  called  "depots"  in  Europe,  are  noticeably 
large  and  complete  in  their  appointments.  Even 
in  towns  of  a  score  of  thousand  of  inhabitants 
stations  are  often  found  rivaling  the  great  Forty- 
second  street  depot  in  New  York  in  magnificence. 
They  usually  consist  of  fine  glass  and  iron  roofs 
entirely  covering  the  tracks  for  a  distance  exceed- 
ing that  of  the  longest  train,  with  brick  or  stone 
depot  buildings  on  either  side,  the  one  for  busi- 
ness bound  in  one  direction,  the  other  for  traffic 
going  the  opposite  way.  The  two  sides  are  con- 
nected either  by  a  tunnel  or  subway  under  the 
tracks,  or  by  a  bridge  over  them,  and  the  public 
are  never  on  any  account  allowed  on  the  tracks. 
The  stations  are  provided  with  cloak  rooms 
where  parcels  of  any  sort  may  be  stored  at  a 
charge  of  two  or  four  cents  a  day  for  each  article. 
The  ladies'  waiting  rooms  are  often  laid  with 
Brussels  carpet  and  furnished  as  comfortably  as 
an  ordinary  private  parlor.  A  lavatory  or  wash- 
room is  provided,  with  an  attendant  whose  duty  it 
is  to  keep  it  scrupulously  clean.  Soap  and  clean 
towels  are  furnished,  and  to  defray  the  expense  a 
charge  of  about  four  cents  is  made  to  those  using 


30  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

them.  So  with  the  water  closets.  ISTo  hotel  could 
have  cleaner  or  more  elegantly  fitted  up.  A  per- 
son is  in  charge  of  them,  generally  a  superannu- 
ated employe  of  the  company,  and  to  defray  the 
expense  of  his  care  a  charge  of  two  cents  is  made 
to  those  applying  for  a  key.  The  hack  stand  is 
generally  in  the  depot  and  consequently  under 
cover,  so  there  is  no  going  out  in  the  rain  and 
mud  to  take  a  carriage  after  leaving  one' s  train. 
In  many  other  respects  the  English  railway  sta- 
tions are  models  we  could  afford  to  copy  from  in 
our  own  country. 

The  practice  is  growing  in  favor  of  having  mam- 
moth hotels  connected  with  important  railway 
stations,  the  same  being  owned  and  controlled,  if 
not  actually  carried  on,  by  the  railway  compa- 
nies. Strangers  thus  land  directly  in  their  hotels, 
and  in  two  minutes  after  leaving  the  cars  may  be 
in  their  bedrooms. 

On  many  of  the  English  railways  the  station 
grounds  at  points  along  the  line  are  beautifully 
laid  out  as  gardens,  and  are  resplendent  with 
beds  of  bright  flowers.  The  reader  can  imagine 
how  much  pleasanter  stops  are  under  such  cir- 
cumstances than  where  the  passengers'  vision  is 
confined  to  a  dusty  yard  strewn  with  old  iron 
and  other  litter,  as  is  too  often  the  case  in  this 
country. 

The  English  railways  do  not  have  their  switch- 


ENGLISH  RAILWAY  CARRIAGES.  31 

men  running  all  over  their  yards  to  operate  the 
switches,  at  the  cost  of  many  lives  and  limbs 
annually,  but  the  switches  are  all  handled  from 
one  or  two  comfortable  lookout  stations,  so  situated 
as  to  command  a  view  of  all  the  tracks  and  the 
movements  of  every  train.  In  these  one  man, 
without  exposure  to  the  weather,  can  manage 
fifty  or  more  switches.  Often,  as  he  sits  in  his 
glass  house  with  his  long  row  of  levers  before 
him  he  is  fairly  embowered  in  the  geraniums  and 
other  pot  plants  with  which  he  adorns  his  perch 
and  beguiles  his  leisure  moments.  Think  of  an 
American  switchman  indulging  in  flowers ! 

I  need  hardly  tell  the  reader  that  English  rail- 
way carriages  are  very  different  from  ours.  They 
are  divided  into  several  compartments,  between 
which  there  is  no  communication,  the  seats  run 
entirely  across  the  car,  half  the  passengers  ride 
backwards,  and  the  carriages  (they  don' t  call  them 
cars)  are  entered  at  the  side.  I  prefer  them  to 
ours,  they  are  so  much  more  roomy  and  so  plea- 
santly exclusive.  While  very  clean  and  comfort- 
able the  carriages  are  very  plain— no  rich  gilding 
or  veneering  with  costly  woods.  The  result  is, 
while  they  carry  nearly  as  many  passengers,  they 
apparently  weigh  but  little  more  than  half  what 
ours  do,  and  I  should  think  would  cost  to  build 
scarcely  a  third  the  sum.     They  are  hence  more 


32  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

economical  every  way.  The  engines,  too,  are 
smaller  and  much  less  showy  than  ours. 

The  contrast  between  the  heavy,  cumbersome 
freight  cars  used  in  America  and  the  light,  simple 
and  cheap  ones  used  on  the  English  lines  is  par- 
ticularly noticeable.  While  the  American  freight 
car  usually  weighs  about  ten  tons  the  English 
weighs  less  than  five  (  "tare  4  tons  16  cwt.,"  I  in 
one  instance  observed  one  marked),  and  both 
carry  about  the  same  load.  The  economy  of  mo- 
tive power  in  using  this  light  rolling  stock  must 
be  apparent  to  everyone. 

You  never  see  the  floor  of  an  English  railway 
carriage  defiled  with  tobacco  juice.  Oh  for  the 
time  when  the  same  can  be  said  in  our  own  coun- 
try! 

They  give  you  no  checks  for  your  luggage  (it  is 
not  "baggage"  on  that  side  of  the  water),  and 
you  must  look  out  for  it  yourself,  and  promptly, 
upon  arriving  at  your  destination.  Tickets  are 
taken  uj)  by  ticket  collectors  at  the  station  pre- 
ceding the  one  they  are  issued  for.  The  system 
in  this  respect  is  hardly  so  complete  as  ours.  The 
railway  porters  are  feed  for  handling  the  baggage, 
from  four  to  twelve  cents,  according  to  the  quan- 
tity you  have. 

Fares  in  England  are  about  four,  three  and  two 
cents  a  mile  according  as  you  ride,  first,  second 
or  third-class.     Keturn  tickets  are  always  sold  at 


RAILWAY  FARES  IN  ENGLAND.  33 

a  large  reduction.  They  are  made  good  for  from 
three  days  to  a  week,  and  the  round  trip  costs 
about  fifty  per  cent,  more  than  the  single  trip. 
The  railway  passenger  traffic  of  England  is  enor- 
mous and  I  have  no  doubt  has  been  largely  culti- 
vated by  the  railway  companies  by  their  wise  sys- 
tem of  encouraging  travel  by  the  adoption  of 
cheap  fares.  All  the  railways  are  compelled  by 
their  charters  to  run  at  least  one  train  a  day  at  a 
penny  (2  cents)  a  mile.  At  first  it  was  regarded 
as  an  imposition  upon  them,  and  all  possible 
obstructions  were  thrown  in  the  way  of  people 
availing  themselves  of  this  so-called  j)arliament- 
ary  train.  Now,  however,  the  railway  managers 
find  that  the  third-class  traffic  is  the  best  part  of 
their  business,  and  it  is  quite  as  much  courted  as 
the  first  and  second-class.  Indeed,  the  Midland 
railway,  one  of  the  most  enterprising  and  best 
managed  of  the  great  railway  cor]3orations  of 
England,  has  gone  so  far  as  to  abolish  the  second- 
class  grade  altogether  and  at  the  same  time  has 
improved  its  third-class  cars  to  the  former  stand- 
ard of  the  second-class  in  comfort  and  elegance 
and  now  runs  them  upon  all  its  fast  express  trains. 
Out  of  most  of  the  larger  cities  of  England,  regu- 
lar excursion  trains  are  run  on  certain  days  of 
the  week  at  a  fare  not  exceeding  one  cent  a  mile, 
and  this  too  must  be  found  profitable  or  it  would 
not  be  so  extensively  practiced. 

3 


34  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD.      ' 

The  most  profitable  railways  in  England  are 
not  the  great  trunk  lines,  but  the  little  suburban 
branches  that  carry  people  daily  from  their 
homes  to  their  business  and  back  again.  They 
are  very  numerous  in  the  vicinity  of  London. 
American  railroad  managers  might  take  a  hint 
from  this  and  give  more  attention  to  develoj^ing 
suburban  traffic. 


iS 


CHAPTER  lY. 


LONDON -HOW  HOLIDAYS  ARE  OBSERVED  -  ALBERT  MEMORIAL 
HALL -THE  MESSIAH -THE  FOUNDLING  HOSPITAL -TOUR- 
ISTS' TICKETS  FOR  THE  CONTINENT. 

CVf 


MEwe 

I  COl 


were  unfortunate  in  arriving  at  London 
Lst  at  the  Easter  season,  when  nothing 

could  be  seen  and  scarcely  any  business 
transacted.  On  Good  Friday  all  shops  were 
closed  and  everything  was  as  quiet  as  on  Sunday. 
On  Saturday  business  closed  early,  and  on  Mon- 
day, which  is  one  of  the  great  bank  holidays,  all 
London  was  off  pleasure  seeking  and  not  even  a 
box  of  matches  could  be  purchased.  This  is  no 
doubt  better  than  our  half-and-half  way  of 
keeping  holidays  in  America,  and  I  commend  it 
for  imitation  on  our  Fourths  of  July. 

All  places  of  amusement  proper  were  closed  on 
Good  Friday,  but  as  appropriate  to  the  day  the 
oratorio  of  the  Messiah  was  produced  at  Albert 
Hall,  an  immense  structure  capable  of  holding 
eight  thousand  people,  erected  as  a  memorial 
of  the  late  Prince  Consort.  It  is  built  of  heavy 
masonry,  oval  in  form,  and  so  arranged  that  every 
one  can  see  and  hear,  the  solo  singers  occupying 
one  of  the  foci  of  the  ellipse.     It  contains  one  of 

35 


36  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

the  largest  organs  in  the  world,  presided  at  on 
this  occasion  by  Dr.  Stainer,  organist  of  St.  Paul's 
Cathedral.  The  orchestra  embraced  about  eighty 
instruments,  and  the  chorus  over  eight  hundred 
singers.  I  need  hardly  add  that  it  was  grand. 
At  the  Hallelujah  Chorus  the  entire  audience 
rose  to  their  feet  and  the  effect  was  most  intense. 
By  the  way,  Handel's  Messiah  was  first  ren- 
dered in  the  chapel  of  the  Foundling  Hospital, 
the  organ  of  which,  still  in  use,  was  a  present  to 
the  institution  from  the  great  master.  I  attended 
services  there  on  Easter  Sunday.  The  institution 
was  founded  by  one  Captain  Thomas  Coram  in 
1739,  and  was  so  well  endowed  by  him  and  others 
that  it  is  now  a  very  rich  corporation,  owning 
whole  streets  of  elegant  houses  in  the  vicinity. 
Formerly  there  was  an  aperture  in  the  wall  with  a 
revolving  box  in  which  any  one  could  x)lace  an 
infant  she  wished  to  get  rid  of,  when  by  ringing  a 
bell  and  giving  the  box  a  turn  the  child  became 
an  inmate  of  the  establishment  and  all  clue  to  it 
was  lost  forever.  Now,  however,  the  mother  must 
present  her  child  in  person  and  give  her  name 
and  address,  and  she  as  well  as  the  child  becomes 
an  object  of  solicitude  with  the  managers  of  the 
institution,  though  of  course  not  an  inmate. 
There  are  now  about  four  hundred  children  in 
the  Foundling.  They  are  kept  till  old  enough  to 
go  out  as  servants  or  be  apprenticed  to  trades,  and 


THE  FOUNDLING  HOSPITAL  37 

thougli  not  pampered,  are  well  cared  for.  The 
little  girls  look  exceedingly  pretty  in  their  high 
white  Normandy  caps,  white  collars  coming  down 
to  and  pinned  at  the  waist,  and  white  aprons. 
The  service  at  the  chapel  is  choral,  and  the  chil- 
dren, assisted  by  a  quartet,  suj)ply  the  mnsic.  It 
was  charming,  the  spirit  with  which  they  entered 
into  it  and  the  precision  they  maintained.  Not- 
withstanding the  wealth  of  the  institution,  the 
wardens  stand  at  the  door  with  plates,  and  every 
visitor  is  expected  to  make  a  contribution  of  six- 
pence or  a  shilling.  After  the  services  the  chil- 
dren dine,  and  the  visitors  commonly  remain  to 
see  them  eat  and  afterwards  to  inspect  the  dor- 
mitories and  school  rooms.  There  is  also  an 
interesting  museum  containing  some  rare  paint- 
ings, which  may  be  seen  by  those  who  like. 

On  Sunday  evening  we  attended  one  of  the 
people's  services  under  the  dome  of  St.  Paul's, 
at  which  eminent  men  from  all  parts  of  the  king- 
dom preach  in  rotation.  On  this  occasion  the 
entire  church  was  filled  with  hearers  to  the  num- 
ber of  many  thousands. 

A  few  steps  from  St.  Paul's  is  the  main  office 
of  Thomas  Cook  &  Son,  the  pioneer  tourist  ticket 
agents.  Here  at  one  payment  we  can  procure 
tickets  for  thousands  of  miles  of  travel,  by  rail, 
steamer  and  stage  coach,  and  traversing  a  dozen 
different    countries.     It   is  an  immense  conven- 


38  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

ience  to  travelers,  particularly  if  one  is  not 
familiar  with  the  languages  of  all  the  countries 
visited.  Our  tickets,  taking  us  from  London 
through  Belgium,  up  the  Rhine,  through  Bava- 
ria, the  Tyrol,  Italy,  Switzerland  and  France, 
over  the  route  described  in  a  former  chapter,  with 
the  privilege  of  lying  over  at  numerous  places, 
cost  us  £18  17s  6d,  or  891.73  each. 

Besides  this  we  are  able  at  Cook's  to  pay 
hotel  bills  in  advance  for  any  number  of  days  we 
desire  at  the  rate  of  eight  and  sixpence,  or  $2. 10 
per  day.  The  tickets  entitle  us  to  a  table  d'hote 
dinner,  usually  served  on  the  continent  at  the  close 
of  the  day's  sight-seeing,  or  about  live  or  six 
o'  clock,  a  bed,  with  lights  and  attendance,  and  a 
meat  breakfast.  Lunch  in  the  middle  of  the 
day  one  is  supposed  to  procure  at  a  restaurant 
wherever  he  may  happen  to  be.  There  are 
separate  coupons  for  each  meal  and  the  bed, 
so  one  is  not  required  to  remain  longer  than 
he  cares  to  at  any  hotel,  nor  does  he  have 
to  pay  for  any  meals  he  has  not  eaten.  The 
coupons  are  good  at  any  of  a  list  of  three 
hundred  and  twelve  hotels  at  two  hundred  and 
seventy-two  different  places  on  the  continent. 
Cook's  is  not  the  only  tourist  ticket  agency, 
nor,  in  the  opinion  of  some,  the  best,  but  it 
is  an  old  established  concern,  and  is  every  way 
worthy    of    confidence.     The    senior    Mr.    Cook 


COOK'S  COUPONS.  39 

began  Ms  enterprise  by  getting  \vp  temperance 
excursions  for  the  poorer  classes  in  England, 
in  j)art  as  a  philanthropic  measure,  and  from  this 
beginning  has  grown  up  a  very  extensive  busi- 
ness, with  branch  offices  in  all  the  principal  cities 
in  Europe  and  America.  It  is  safe  to  say  the 
majority  of  English  and  American  people  one 
meets  on  the  continent  are  traveling  on  Cook's 
tickets. 

We  spend  but  little  time  in  London  as  it  is 
important  that  we  reach  Rome  by  the  middle  of 
May,  soon  after  which  the  fever  season  sets  in 
and  it  is  unsafe  for  strangers  to  sojourn  there. 
We  leave  therefore  the  sights  of  London  till  our 
return,  and  push  on  for  the  continent. 


CHAPTER  V. 

CROSSINa  TO  THE  CONTINENT— APPEARANCE  OF  THE  COUNTRY 
IN  FRANCE  AND  BELGIUM -BRUSSELS- A  CONTINENTAL  HOTEL 
—A  HANDSOME  CITY— LACE  MANUFACTURE— THE  KINGDOM  'OF 
BELGIUM- ANTWERP— RUBENS  AND  HIS  PAINTINGS— BELGIAN 
WOOD  CARVING-A  CALVARY. 

CitVrjH^  sailed  from  Dover  vrith  a  stiff  east  wind 
blowing,  confident  in  late  trans -Atlantic 
experience  to  bring  us  through  like  old 
sailors,  but  before  we  reached  Calais  our  con- 
fidence gave  way,  and  we  vowed  the  next  time 
we  crossed  we  should  wait  for  a  fine  day.  The 
steamers  are  small,  and  the  heavy  waves  break 
over  them  to  an  extent  that  not  a  foot  of  dry 
space  is  to  be  found  on  deck.  Xo  sooner  were 
the  lines  cast  off  at  Dover  than  the  sailors  omin- 
ously passed  around  to  every  passenger  a  large 
white  bowl,  and  devoted  themselves  mainly  dur- 
ing the  voyage  to  emptying  them  as  occasion 
required. 

It  takes  about  two  hours  to  cross  from  Dover 
to  Calais,  and  about  five  more,  by  rail,  to  reach 
Brussels.  The  country  we  pass  through  in  this 
portion  of  our  journey  is  very  flat,  but  not  unin- 
teresting.    We  pass  through  several  large  manu- 

40 


THROUGH  BELGIUM.  41 

facturing  cities  and  see  some  fine  old  churches,  a 
few  castles,  and  near  the  boundary  line  between 
France  and  Belgium  some  fortifications.  Occa- 
sionally in  the  intervening  country  we  see  a  stately 
manor  house,  but  the  majority  of  the  houses 
are  of  the  quaint,  high-roofed  French  farm  house 
sort,  built  of  stone  oiiJDrick  and  covered  with  tiles 
or  thatch.  Scarcely  a  fence  is  to  be  seen  the  entire 
distance,  only  lines  of  trees,  usually  willows, 
marking  the  subdivisions  of  the  land.  In  the 
case  of  the  willows  they  are  usually  kept  trimmed 
off  close  about  six  or  eight  feet  from  the  ground, 
where  a  great  unsightly  knob  forms  itself.  The 
periodical  crojDping  of  the  trees  is  for  the  purpose 
of  supi^ljT-ing  fuel,  of  which  the  country  is  other- 
wise largely  destitute.  The  same  branch-denuded 
trees — mere  stumps  with  bushy  heads  of  small 
twigs — are  commonly  seen  all  over  continental 
Europe,  large  full  grown  trees  being  quite  excep- 
tional except  in  royal  and  public  parks.  The  sur- 
face of  the  ground  between  Calais  and  Brussels  is 
so  flat  that  in  many  cases  the  fields  are  intersected 
by  canals  a  yard  or  two  wide — primarily  for 
drainage  but  also  utilized  for  navigation,  the 
farmer  using  boats  instead  of  wagons  to  convey 
his  crops  from  the  fields  to  his  barn.  Wagon 
roads  are  rarely  seen,  but  what  there,  are  are 
excellent,  the  main  highways  being  paved  with 
stone  like  the  streets  of  a  city.     So,  too,  draft 


42  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

animals  seem  scarce,  and  manual  labor  appears  to 
take  their  place  in  farming  operations.  Every- 
where spring  work  was  in  full  blast,  and  almost  as 
many  women  as  men  were  seen  in  the  fields.  In 
one  case  I  noticed  a  man  and  a  woman  drawing  a 
harrow  by  ropes  passed  over  their  shoulders,  and 
in  another  case  a  like  pair  were  drawing  a  roller 
over  a  newly  plowed  field.  One  o?  the  most 
striking  features  of  the  route  is  the  great  number 
of  windmills  seen,  and  which  may  almost  be 
counted  by  hundreds. 

Arrived  at  Brussels,  we  drive  to  our  hotel,  find 
plenty  of  attaches  who  speak  English  fluently, 
and  soon  feel  quite  at  home.  The  hotel  is  a 
quaint  sort  of  a  place,  but  withal  very  clean  and 
comfortable.  There  is  a  court-yard  in  the  center, 
open  to  the  skies,  across  which  we  have  to  walk 
to  the  dining  room,  and  upon  which  the  ladies' 
parlor  opens.  It  is  a  queer  mixture  of  the  ancient 
and  modern,  the  rude  and  the  elegant.  Our 
chamber  ceiling  is  low  and  is  intersected  by  a 
great  beam,  the  woodwork  of  the  doors  and  win- 
dows, too,  is  old  fashioned  and  clumsy,  but  the 
house  is  fitted  with  electric  bells,  a  handsome 
French  clock  with  accompanying  ornaments  occu- 
pies the  mantle-piece,  a  good  Brussels  carpet  the 
floor,  and  all  the  furniture  is  of  solid  mahogany. 
The  beds  are  all  single,  the  custom  of  the  conti- 
nent being  for  husbands  and  wives  to  sleep  sepa- 


A  BELGIAN  HOTEL.  43 

rately,  and,  in  lieu  of  a  sufficient  supply  of  blan- 
kets and  counterj^anes,  each  bed  is  provided  with 
a  small  eider-down  bed,  coming  up  about  half 
way  to  the  pillows,  and  covered  with  lace.  This 
lies  on  top  and  keeps  the  feet  and  legs  warm. 
The  bed  rooms  are  lighted  only  by  candles,  and, 
cheap  as  must  be  the  article  of  soap,  every  guest 
is  expected  to  furnish  his  own. 

The  table  d'hote  in  our  hotel  is  at  five  o'clock. 
The  dinner  bell  rings  and  all  the  guests  sit  down 
together.  Ten  courses  are  served,  and  we  sit  alto- 
gether about  an  hour  and  a  half.  All  the  plates 
and  knives  and  forks  are  removed  and  clean  ones 
provided  for  each  course.  First  comes  soup,  then 
ham  patties,  then  fish,  and  after  these  in  succes- 
sion, roast  beef  and  spinach,  roast  veal  with  onion 
dressing,  asparagus  \vith  hard-boiled  eggs,  some 
kind  of  bird  on  toast,  head-cheese  and  salad,  pud- 
ding, and  lastly  dessert  of  fruit  and  cakes — ten 
clean  plates  to  each  guest,  unless  he  chooses  to 
omit  some  of  the  courses  in  which  case  he  sits 
patiently  till  the  other  guests  have  finished  and 
the  next  course  is  served.  Almost  every  guest 
has  a  bottle  of  wine  by  his  plate,  the  light  Ger- 
man and  Italian  wines  being  much  used  on  the 
continent  as  an  ordinary  beverage. 

After  a  night' s  rest  we  take  a  drive  over  the 
city.  A  two-horse  carriage  and  driver  for  two 
hours  costs  us  nine  francs,  or  $1.80.     Brussels  is 


44  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

a  b(5antiful  city.  No  American  city,  or  even  Lon- 
don, can  boast  such  architecture  for  boldness  and 
elegance.  A  more  graceful  tower  and  spire  than 
that  of  the  Hotel  de  Vllle,  a  more  massive  crea- 
tion than  the  new  Palace  of  Justice,  or  more 
palatial  rows  of  private  buildings  than  line  some 
of  the  newer  boulevards  it  would  probably  be 
difficult  to  find  anywhere.  Even  in  the  older  por- 
tions of  the  city,  where  the  streets  are  narrow  and 
crooked,  the  houses  with  their  gabled  roofs  and 
well-cared-for  stuccoed  walls,  the  attractive  shop 
windows,  and  the  stately  old  churches  and  other 
public  buildings  which  stand  out  everywhere, 
contribute  a  charm  to  the  place. 

The  boulevards  of  Brussels  are  magnificent 
thoroughfares,  some  of  them  two  hundred  feet 
wide.  These  have  a  macadamized  roadway  for 
pleasure  driving  in  the  center,  lined  with  avenues 
of  trees.  *  On  one  side  is  a  dirt  road  for  horseback 
riding,  and  on  the  other  a  grassy  walk  for  pedes- 
trians. Outside  of  these  come  paved  roadways 
for  heavy  traffic,  and  still  beyond  them  flag  side- 
walks. 

The  cathedral  church  of  St.  Gudule  is  a  very 
fine  Gothic  edifice,  famous  for  the  magnificent 
chapels  that  flank  the  choir,  for  its  rich  stained 
glass  windows,  and  for  a  remarkable  carved 
wooden  pulpit  representing  the  expulsion  of 
Adam  and  Eve  from  Eden.     Our  first  parents  are 


BRUSSELS.  45 

of  life  size,  and,  with  the  trunk  of  the  tree  of 
knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  support  the  pulpit. 
Just  over  them  is  a  life-sized  angel  brandishing 
his  fiery  sword,  while  Satan,  in  form  of  a  serpent 
some  twenty  or  thirty  feet  long  and  as  large  as  a 
man's  leg,  is  coiled  all  about  the  pulpit  with  his 
head  peering  over  the  top  of  the  sounding  board 
above,  where  a  figure  of  the  Virgin  axDpears 
instructing  the  infant  Jesus  to  crush  the  head 
with  his  foot.  The  stair  railing  leading  up  to  the 
pulpit  is  ornamented  with  cocks,  monkeys  and 
various  other  animals,  and  altogether  it  is  a  very 
curious  piece  of  work. 

In  the  Hotel  de  Ville  or  City  Hall  are  some 
tapestries  which  for  perfection  of  shading  and 
brilliancy  of  coloring  rival  the  best  art  of  the 
painter.  But  the  great  specialty  of  Brussels  is  its 
lace.  There  are  a  number  of  manufactories  some 
of  very  long  existence.  The  designs  are  generally 
very  artistic,  but  the  skill  with  which  the  oper- 
atives manipulate,  in  its  production,  sometimes 
hundreds  and  thousands  of  bobbins  is  truly  won- 
derful. The  interest  in  seeing  lace  made  is  only 
exceeded  by  observing  the  skill  and  ingenuity 
with  which  it  is  sold.  Every  hackdriver  and 
hotel  porter  seems  to  have  a  special  interest  in 
beguiling  travelers  into  the  lace  factories.  Once 
within  the  walls  they  are  taken  in  charge  by  the 
most  beautiful  and  fascinating  of  young  ladies, 


46  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

and  the  stock  is  exhibited  with  so  much  tact  and 
graceful  naivete  that  I  doubt  if  one  person  in 
twenty  gets  away  without  making  some  pur- 
chase. 

Brussels,  which  has  three  hundred  thousand 
inhabitants,  is  the  capital  of  Belgium,  one  of  the 
youngest  of  the  family  of  European  nations. 
As  part  of  the  dukedom  of  Burgundy,  it  fell  in 
the  sixteenth  century  to  Charles  V.,  emperor  of 
Germany  and  Spain,  by  inheritance.  The  oppres- 
sions of  his  son,  Philip  II.,  caused  the  eighty  years 
war,  portrayed  so  graphically  by  Motley  in  his 
Dutch  Republic.  The  war  ended  in  1648  with  the 
indei)endence  of  the  protestant  provinces  of  Hol- 
land, but  the  retention  by  Spain  of  the  catholic 
provinces  now  forming  BelgiumfP'  By  the  peace  of 
Ryswick,  in  1713,  the  latter  were  transferred  to 
Austria.  It  was  the  Empress  Maria  Theresa  of 
j^f  tria  who  gave  Brussels  its  park.  In  1794  the 
province  was  conquered  by  the  revolutionary 
army  of  France,  and  it  remained  under  French 
dominion  till  the  fall  of  Napoleon  in  1815,  when 
the  congress  of  Vienna,  which  undertook  the 
reconstruction  of  the  map  of  Europe,  united  it 
again  with  the  kingdom  of  Holland.  The  Bel- 
gians were  not  given  equal  rights  with  their  new 
confreres,  grew  discontented,  and  in  1830  threw 
off  the  Dutch  yoke  and  set  up  as  a  sepa- 
rate nation.     They  elected  as  their  king  Prince 


BELGIUM'S  HISTORY.  47 

Leopold  of  Saxe-Cobourg,  the  widower  of  the 
beloved  Princess  Charlotte  of  England,  daughter 
of  George  lY.  and  cousin  of  Queen  Victoria. 
He  was  a  man  of  high  culture  and  superior  char- 
acter, and  made  for  thirty-five  years  a  good  and 
popular  king.  His  son,  Leopold  II.,  now  reigns, 
and  it  is  his  daughter  Stephanie  who  was  recently 
married  to  the  son  of  the  emperor  of  Austria. 

The  people  of  Belgium  are  mostly  catholics, 
and  are  industrious  and  enterprising  and  fully 
abreast  of  the  French  and  English  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  arts  and  manufactures.  Besides 
lace,  Brussels  carpets,  glass  and  iron  are  among 
the  chief  products  of  the  country.  The  French 
and  Flemish  languages  are  about  equally  spoken 
in  Belgium. 

From  Brussels  we  take  a  train  for  Antwerp, 
the  principal  sea-port  of  Belgium,  and  an  inter- 
esting old  city  of  one  hundred  and  twenty -five 
thousand  inhabitants.  It  is  an  hour's  ride 
and  the  fare  for  the  round  trip  is  about  one 
dollar.  The  country  we  pass  through  is  a  dead 
level  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach  in  every 
direction,  neither  cutting  nor  embankment  worth 
speaking  of  being  required  for  the  railroad  the 
entire  distance.  Nor  is  there  scarcely  a  fence 
to  be  seen,  but  rows  of  trees  mark  every  subdi- 
vision of  land,  and  fine  avenues  line  every  road- 
way.    These  have  a  very  pretty  effect,  and  will 


48  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

no  doubt  supply  future  generations  with  much 
valuable  timber.  The  land  is  in  a  high  state  of 
cultivation,  and  every  rod  is  fully  imj^roved. 
The  field  labor  is  chiefly  manual,  comparatively 
few  beasts  being  employed.  One  horse  usually 
draws  the  x)low,  and  in  one  field  I  saw  a  single  ox 
harnessed  to  this  implement. 

Antwerp,  once  the  commercial  metropolis  of 
the  world,  a  position  to  which  London  has  now 
succeeded,  is  a  well  built  but  rather  quiet  and 
sleepy  old  city.  It  lacks  the  brilliancy  and 
gaiety  of  Brussels,  but  is  clean,  in  good  repair, 
and  presents  an  air  of  stately  respectability.  The 
houses  are  of  great  architectural  variety,  but  the 
steep  gabled  fronts  predominate.  All  are  built 
up  closely  in  solid  blocks.  We  first  visit  the 
cathedral,  one  of  the  finest  in  northern  EurojDe, 
and  dating  from  1352-1411.  It  is  remarkable  for 
having  three  aisles  on  either  side  of  the  nave, 
giving  great  breadth  to  the  church.  Its  lofty, 
light,  graceful  spire  very  much  resembles  that  of 
the  Hotel  de  Ville  at  Brussels.  The  two  master- 
pieces of  Rubens,  ''the  Elevation  of  the  Cross" 
and  "the  Descent  from  the  Cross,"  for  which  the 
cathedral  is  noted,  hang  in  the  two  transepts  of 
the  church,  and  are  only  uncovered  for  public 
inspection  at  certain  hours.  Antwerp  was  the 
home  of  Peter  Paul  Rubens,  the  greatest  of 
Flemish  painters  (born  1577,  died  1640),  and  his 


ANTWERP.  49 

best  works  are  to  be  seen  here.  Some  are  col- 
lected in  a  small  gallery  at  the  house  he  resided 
in  and  which  is  still  preserved  in  good  condition, 
but  the  principal  collection  is  found  at  the 
Museum,  a  public  gallery  open  free  on  certain 
days  of  the  week. 

The  Belgians  of  past  ages  seem  to  have  espe- 
cially excelled  in  the  art  of  wood  carving.  I 
have  already  mentioned  the  wonderful  pulpit  in 
St.  Gudule's.  In  Antwerp  cathedral  is  one  very 
similar  to  it,  and  in  the  church  of  St.  Paul  the 
wood  carvings  are  perhaps  nowhere  surpassed  for 
abundance  and  richness.  Every  confessional 
consists  of  a  group  of  figures  of  life  size,  and  the 
walls  of  the  large  church  all  around  for  some 
height  above  the  pavement  are  a  mass  of  rich 
carvings  in  oak. 

A  scarcely  less  notable  feature  of  St.  Paul's 
church  in  Antwerp  is  its  "Calvary."  This  is 
outside  the  church  but  adjoining  it,  and  consists 
of  some  sixty  life-size  marble  statues,  represent- 
ing all  the  great  bible  worthies,  leading  up  to  an 
artificial  mountain,  upon  which  appears  in  full 
the  scene  of  the  crucifixion  in  white  marble. 
Below  the  mountain  is  a  cave  in  which  a  dead 
Christ  is  seen,  and  back  of  the  mountain  a  repre- 
sentation of  purgatory,  with  men  tortured  by 
devils  and  writhing  in  marble  flames.  It  is  alto- 
gether a  very  curious  conception,  and  is  a  favor- 

4 


50  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

ite  place  of  resort  for  meditation  and  prayer  with, 
the  pious  catholics  of  Antwerp). 

One  of  the  inconveniences  in  Belgium  is  the 
lack  of  a  uniform  language.  All  notices  to  the 
public  have  to  be  in  polyglot  form,  involving  an 
immense  amount  of  printing  and  sign  painting. 
Thus,  as  illustration,  the  refreshment  room  at  the 
railway  station  usually  bears  a  sign  reading: 

BUVETTA. 

Tap-room. 
Drinkplaats. 

TliLNKSTUBE. 

And  the  outlet  from  the  station  is  indicated  by 
the  words: 

Way  out.. 

"WlTGANG 

Sortie. 

AUSGANG. 

So  all  official  pajDers  appear  printed  in  two  or 
more  different  languages,  side  by  side. 


A  POUiARD  WILLOW. 


CHAPTER  71. 

In  GERMANY— AIX-LA-CHAPELLE  AND  ITS  MEMORIES  OF  CHARLE- 
MAGNE—COLOGNE AND  ITS  CATHEDRAL— THE  RHINE  AND  ITS 
ROMANTIC  SCENERY— MAYENCE,  THE  BIRTHPLACE  OF  PRINT- 
ING-FRANKFORT-GOETHE-THE  ROTHSCHILDS. 

i\ 

(^W^EAYINGr  Brussels  for  Cologne  we  pass 
^^  througli  Lou  vain  with  its  great  catholic 
O j  university  from  which  so  many  priests  are 
sent  to  America,  and  the  important  manufactur- 
ing city  of  Liege.  In  this  direction  the  country 
is  much  more  rolling,  and  after  passing  Liege 
becomes  decidedly  rocky,  if  not  mountainous. 
Soon  after,  we  cross  the  boundary  line  into  Ger- 
many and  stop  at  the  old  city  of  Aix-la-Chapelle. 
The  place  is  famous  in  history  as  one  of  Charle- 
magne's capitals  and  as  the  scene  of  several 
important  treaties  of  peace,  including  that  effect- 
ed by  the  congress  of  1818  held  for  the  settling 
of  the  affairs  of  Europe  after  Napoleon's  defeat 
at  Waterloo  in  1815.  It  it  is  a  quiet,  modern- 
built  town  with  only  one  or  two  objects  of  any 
considerable  interest  to  the  ordinary  traveler. 
These  are  the  cathedral,  part  of  which  was  built 
by  Charlemagne  more  than  a  thousand  years  ago, 
and  in  which  he  was  buried,  and  the  Rathhaus,  or 

51 


52  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

city  hall,  which  occupies  the  site  of  the  great 
emperor's  palace,  some  remains  of  which  are 
embraced  in  it.  The  cathedral  is  octagonal  in 
form,  with  square  piers  and  semi-circular  arches, 
and  is  of  exceedingly  massive  construction.  At 
a  later  period  an  elegant  Gothic  choir  or  chancel 
was  added  to  the  plain  Carlovingian  portion. 
The  tomb  of  Charlemagne  was  in  the  center  of 
the  octagon,  and  he  was  buried  originally  in  a 
sitting  position  in  an  arm-chair  of  marble.  This 
chair  or  throne  is  now  exhibited  in  th^  gallery  of 
the  church.  For  many  generations  it  was  used  as 
the  coronation  chair  of  the  emperors  of  Germany. 
After  reposing  in  it  for  three  hundred  and  fifty 
years  Charlemagne's  body  was  removed  from 
the  chair  to  a  richly-carved  marble  sarcophagus 
brought  from  Rome,  and  said  to  have  been  the 
coffin  of  the  Emperor  Augustus.  This  coffin  is 
also  exhibited,  the  remains  having  at  last  found 
a  place  as  sacred  relics  in  the  treasury  of  the 
church. 

The  Rathhaus  is  remarkable  chiefly  for  an 
exceedingly  fine  vaulted  hall  one  hundred  and 
sixty -five  feet  long  and  sixty  wide,  called  the 
kaisersaal,  and  which  contains  some  very  fine 
modern  frescoes. 

A  two  hour's  ride  brings  us  to  Cologne,  where 
our  baggage  undergoes  the  formality  of  a  cus- 
toms inspection.       The  celebrated  cathedral  so 


COLOGKE.  63 

overshadows  everything  else  at  Cologne  that  one 
hardly  cares  to  visit  the  objects  of  lesser  interest, 
though  the  city  contains  several  fine  mediaeval 
churches,  the  tomb  of  the  famous  thirteenth  cen- 
tury British  scholar  and  theologian  Duns  Scotus, 
who  died  in  Cologne  where  he  occupied  a  chair 
in  the  university,  and  numerous  interesting  anti- 
quities, for  Cologne  was  founded  in  the  year  51  by 
Agrippina,  mother  of  the  Roman  emperor  Nero, 
and  doubtless  derived  its  name  from  being  the 
chief  Roman  colony  in  north  Germany.  But  it 
is  not  a  pleasant  city  to  stay  long  in.  The  streets 
are  narrow  and  crooked,  the  slops  of  the  city 
flow  down  the  open  gutters  of  the  streets,  and  the 
seventy- two  distinct  smells  of  which  Coleridge 
wrote  seem  now  blended  into  one  not  unlike  that 
of  some  of  our  American  sulphur  springs.  So 
we  confine  our  attention  to  the  cathedral,  the 
grandest  Gothic  structure  in  the  world,  to  see 
which  is  well  worth  a  journey  to  Europe  to  any 
lover  of  architecture. 

Cologne  Cathedral  was  begun  in  1248  by  an 
archbishop  who  was  ambitious  of  a  church 
comporting  with  the  wealth  and  commercial 
greatness  of  the  city  at  that  period.  The  east 
end,  or  choir,  was  first  erected,  and  this  was  com- 
pleted in  1322,  when  the  nave,  transepts  and 
towers  were  begun.  In  1447  one  tower  was  high 
^nouo^h  to  receive  its  bells.     The  enthusiasm  then 


54  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

subsided,  a  temporary  roof  was  thrown  over  the 
nave,  and  for  more  than  three  hundred  years  all 
hope  of  the  church  ever  being  completed  was 
abandoned.  It  had  fallen  greatly  to  decay,  when 
in  1796  the  French  stripped  the  lead  from  the 
roof,  used  the  interior  as  a  hay  magazine,  and 
left  the  church  little  better  than  a  ruin.  In  1816 
the  king  of  Prussia  caused  the  building  to  be 
examined  with  reference  to  its  restoration,  but  it 
was  not  till  1823  that  work  upon  it  was  begun. 
The  work  was  then  carried  on  under  the  super- 
vision of  one  Zwirner,  an  architect  of  rare  talent 
who  died  in  1861,  and  he  was  the  person  who  first 
suggested  the  entire  completion  of  the  edifice. 
Between  1842  and  1876  the  immense  sum  of 
$3,500,000  was  expended  upon  it,  the  greater  part 
being  contributed  by  the  Prussian  government. 

The  cathedral  is  four  hundred  and  forty-four 
feet  long,  two  hundred  and  one  feet  wide  at  the 
nave  and  two  hundred  and  eighty-two  at  the 
transepts.  The  walls  rise  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  and  the  ridge  of  the  roof  is  two  hundred  and 
one  feet  from  the  ground.  The  two  towers  at  the 
west  end  rise  grandly  to  the  height  of  five  hun- 
dred and  eleven  feet,  and  their  walls  one  hundred 
and  fifty  feet  from  the  ground,  as  I  measured 
them,  were  twelve  feet  in  thickness.  Inside  the 
church  the  vaulted  ceiling  is  one  hundred  and 
forty-five  feet  above  the  pavement.     But  these 


COLOGNE  CATHEDRAL.  66 

figures  will  utterly  fail  to  give  tlie  reader  any- 
thing like  an  idea  of  the  immensity  of  the  struc- 
ture or  the  deep  impression  it  makes  on  one's 
mind.  But  even  this  impression  fades  before  the 
admiration  inspired  by  the  intrinsic  beauty  of 
the  structure.  Its  magnificent  proportions,  its 
graceful  outlines,  its  apparent  lightness  and  its 
chaste  yet  elaborate  ornamentation  all  combine 
to  render  it  the  most  beautiful  Gothic  church  in 
the  world.  What  Handel' s  Messiah  is  in  music 
Cologne  cathedral  is  in  architecture.  It  is  above 
comparison  and  can  only  be  worshiped. 

After  drinking  in  the  grandeur  of  the  nave,  with 
its  double  aisles  lighted  with  thirteenth  and  four- 
teenth century  stained  glass,  we  ascend  to  the 
galleries,  which  perforate  the  walls  a  hundred 
feet  from  the  ground,  and  look  down  on  the  pig- 
mies worshiping  below.  Then  we  climb  fifty 
feet  higher  to  the  vaulting  of  the  nave,  at  which 
level  we  entered  the  belfry  where  in  one  of  the 
towers  hangs  a  thirty-ton  bell  cast  from  French 
cannon  captured  in  the  war  of  1870  and  pre- 
sented by  the  Emperor  William.  This  bell 
requires  twenty-eight  men  to  ring  it.  Then  we 
ascend  into  the  lantern,  over  the  intersection  of 
the  nave  and  transepts,  two  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  from  the  ground,  and  gaze  up  at  the  beauti- 
ful openwork  spires  towering  still  two  hundred 
and  sixty  feet  above  us. 


56  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

That  portion  of  the  river  Rhine  visited  for  its 
scenery  is  comprised  between  Cologne  and  May- 
ence,  a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  seventeen 
miles,  though  it  is  in  fact  only  the  seventy-five 
miles  between  Bonn  and  Bingen  that  possesses 
interest  to  the  American  traveler.  The  rest  of 
the  distance  the  banks  are  low  and  contain  few 
objects  of  attraction.  Between  Bonn  and  Bingen, 
however,  the  scenery  is  very  fine,  far  surpass- 
ing in  my  opinion  our  much  boasted  Hudson. 
Mountains  rise  on  either  side  hundreds  of  feet  in 
height,  and  the  river  so  winds  among  the  hills 
that  it  seems  perpetually  land-locked.  The  sides 
of  the  hills  are  wonderfully  improved  in  the  cul- 
.tivation  of  the  grape,  and  terrace  after  terrace 
rises  along  their  steep  sides,  sometimes  to  their 
extreme  summits.  Wherever  on  their  rocky 
slopes  a  dozen  square  yards  of  soil  can  be  secured 
by  the  erection  of  a  sustaining  wall  there  we  find 
a  dozen  grape  vines.  Tens  of  thousands  of  acres 
must  be  thus  employed,  and  hundreds  of  miles  of 
stone  wall.  One  ceases  to  wonder  where  all  the 
wine  comes  from,  or  that  it  can  be  retailed  at  so 
low  a  price  as  from  thirty  to  fifty  cents  a  bottle. 
On  our  way  up  the  river  we  pass,  near  Bingen, 
the  famous  Johannisberg  vineyard  of  forty  acres, 
the  average  product  of  which  reaches  a  value  of 
$40,000  a  year.  It  belongs  to  the  family  of  the 
late  Prince  Metternich. 


THE  RHIKE.  57 

The  vine-clad  hills  are  not  the  only  attraction. 
At  intervals  of  a  few  miles  the  tops  of  the  hills 
are  crowned  with  old  castles,  sometimes  mere 
ruins,  sometimes  restored  for  habitation.  They 
are  often  very  picturesque.  They  are  the  pro- 
duct of  a  barbarous  age,  when  might  made  right, 
and  when  iDositions  of  inaccessibility,  with  strong 
walls  and  towers,  were  the  only  safeguards  for 
life  and  proi)erty.  They  were  particularly 
numerous  along  the  Rhine  and  its  tributaries,  as 
the  commerce  of  the  river  afforded  a  tempting 
revenue  in  the  way  of  tolls  to  any  one  who  was 
powerful  enough  to  collect  them.  The  traveler 
remains  on  deck  every  minute  of  the  time  during 
the  trip  up  the  river  and  enjoys  the  panorama 
exceedingly. 

The  Rhine  is  a  very  swift  stream,  and  is  navi- 
gated by  sharp  and  powerful  steamers,  which 
nevertheless  require  in  ascending  the  river  about 
eight  hours  to  accomplish  what  they  would  in 
five  in  going  down.  To  enjoy  the  scenery  one 
should  always  ascend  the  river.  We  made  the 
trip  in  April,  too  early  in  the  season  for  comfort, 
the  weather  on  the  river  being  quite  chilly.  The 
large  express  steamers  also  had  not  begun  their 
season's  trips  and  the  smaller  boats  made  two 
days  of  it,  leaving  their  passengers  over  night  at 
Coblenz,  a  jDoint  at  the  confluence  of  the  Moselle 


68  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

with  the  Ehine,  about  midway  between  Cologne 
and  Mayence. 

Coblenz  is  a  strongly  fortified  town  of  thirty 
thousand  inhabitants.  The  extent  of  its  fortifi- 
cations may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that  after 
they  had  been  dismantled  by  Napoleon  I.  the 
Prussian  government  expended  $6,000,000  in 
their  restoration.  One  can  hardly  find  a  square 
yard  of  space  anywhere  in  the  vicinity  that  is 
not  covered  by  some  loop-hole  or  embrasure  in 
some  piece  of  fortification.  Eight  thousand  sol- 
diers are  stationed  there — a  useless  provision,  one 
would  think,  in  time  of  peace,  but  every  able- 
bodied  man  in  Germany  must  render  three  years' 
military  service,  and  the  large  army  thus  enlisted 
must  be  disposed  somewhere,  so  the  little  town 
of  Coblenz  sleeps  secure  with  a  guard  of  about 
two  soldiers  to  each  house. 

The  Empress  of  Germany  has  a  summer  palace 
at  Coblenz,  and  during  the  season  it  is  a  place  of 
considerable  fashionable  resort.  In  the  way  of 
antiquities  it  possesses  one  church,  at  least,  that 
of  St.  Castor,  over  eight  hundred  years  old. 

Near  the  close  of  our  second  day's  voyage  we 
call  at  Bingen,  the  "Fair  Bingen  on  the  Ehine" 
of  Mrs.  Caroline  Norton's  beautiful  poem. 

Mayence,  or  Mentz,  is  an  interesting  little  city 
of  fifty  thousand  inhabitants,  opposite  the  mouth 
of  the  river  Main,  and  also  strongly  fortified.      It 


MAYENCE.  59 

is  particularly  interesting  as  being  tlie  birthplace 
of  Gutenberg  and  the  art  of  printing.  Johann 
Gensfleisch  von  Gutenberg  seems  to  have  per- 
fected his  invention  about  1438,  He  was  then 
residing  in  Strassburg.  He  returned  to  Mayence 
in  1443  and  soon  after  formed  a  partnership  with 
a  capitalist  named  Faust  for  the  establishment  of 
a  printing  office.  His  first  production  was  a 
Latin  bible,  the  precise  year  of  the  appearance 
of  which  is  not  known.  The  building,  however, 
in  which  the  business  was  carried  on  is  still  in 
existence,  and  a  tablet  on  it  fixes  1447  as  a  period 
of  its  occupancy  by  Gutenberg.  The  poor 
inventor  was  subsequently  cheated  out  of  the 
property  by  his  rich  partner,  and  having  jjro- 
cured  other  assistance  he  was  compelled  to  begin 
again,  his  original  office  being  now  carried  on  by 
Faust  &  Schoeffer  as  a  rival  concern.  Guten- 
berg died  in  1468,  and  his  fame  is  perpetuated  by 
a  fine  bronze  statue  by  Thorwaldsen  in  one  of  the 
public  squares  of  Mayence. 

Mayence  has  also  a  very  interesting  old  cathe- 
dral dating  from  1180,  combining  the  Roman- 
esque with  the  Gothic  styles  of  architecture,  and 
very  rich  in  sepulchral  monuments. 

Leaving  the  Rhine  at  Mayence  we  turn  east- 
ward (the  Rhine  flows  nearly  due  north)  and  an 
hour's  ride  by  rail  brings  us  to  Frankfort-on-the 
Main,   until  1866   one  of  the  four  free  cities  of 


60  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

Germany  and  the  seat  of  the  Germanic  Diet.  In 
the  Austro-Prussian  war  Frankfort  took  sides 
with  Austria,  and  for  a  time  stood  in  great  danger 
of  being  sacked  by  the  victorious  Prussians.  As 
it  was  she  was  mulcted  in  a  war  indemnity  of 
$1,250,000,  about  half  a  million  of  which  was, 
however,  assumed  by  the  emperor  individually 
and  a  like  amount  by  the  imperial  government, 
so  that  on  the  whole  the  city  got  off  quite  easily. 
The  policy  of  the  empire  has  been  very  concili- 
atory toward  Frankfort;  and  while  the  loss  of  her 
ancient  sovereignty  is  still  bemoaned  by  the 
older  inhabitants,  she  never  was  more  prosperous 
than  since  her  incorporation  into  the  empire,  and 
altogether  she  is  as  loyal  to-day  as  any  other  part 
of  Germany.  Frankfort  is  a  splendid  old  city. 
A  good  portion  of  it  is  as  quaint  and  old-fash- 
ioned as  can  be,  with  narrow,  crooked  streets 
and  tall  overhanging  buildings  of  frame  work 
filled  in  with  brick  and  plaster,  many  of  them 
richly  carved  and  ornamented.  Part  of  the  city, 
however,  is  modern  and  quite  elegant,  and  alto- 
gether it  possesses  an  air  of  business,  and  presents 
attractions  in  the  display  of  its  wares  that  we 
have  seen  nowhere  else  since  we  left  Brussels. 
Frankfort  also  contains  some  of  the  finest  hotels 
in  Germany.  It  is  the  seat  of  great  wealth  and 
has  a  splendid  Bourse  or  stock  exchange. 

Frankfort  has  some  old  churches  of  consider- 


PRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAIN.  61 

able  interest,  and  the  Roemer,  or  town  hall,  dat- 
ing from  the  year  1406,  in  which  the  elections 
for  emperor  of  Germany  were  accustomed  to  be 
held.  The  kaisersaal,  or  large  hall  in  which  the 
banquet  was  held  after  the  election  was  complete, 
and  from  a  window  of  which  the  new  emperor 
was  presented  to  the  people,  has  been  restored  in 
recent  times,  and  now  contains  fine  oil  portraits 
of  all  the  emperors  from  Charlemagne  down  to 
the  dissolution  of  the  empire  in  1806. 

In  one  of  the  quiet  back  streets  of  Frankfort  is 
a  large  and  old-fashioned  house  bearing  a  slab  of 
marble  in  its  front  wall  with  this  inscription: 

In  diesem  bause 

wurde 

JoHANN  Wolfgang  Goethe, 

am  28  August.  1749, 

Geboren, 

signifying  that  in  that  house  the  immortal  Goethe 
was  born  August  28,  1749.  A  fine  bronze  statue 
of  the  great  poet  adorns  one  of  the  public 
squares. 

Another  birthplace  I  took  the  pains  to  ferret 
out  was  that  of  the  famous  Rothschild  family. 
It  is  in  the  Jews'  quarter,  in  a  miserable,  dirty, 
ruinous  row  of  tall  houses.  Here,  three  gener- 
ations ago,  Mayer  Rothschild  kept  a  small  bank, 
and  having  the  good  fortune  to  preserve  through 
a  period  of  invasion  the  treasures  of  one  of  the 
German  princes  at  the  sacrifice  of  his  own  prop- 


62 


FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 


erty,  obtained  favors  from  the  government  which 
laid  the  foundation  for  the  immense  fortunes  his 
descendants  still  enjoy.  A  branch  of  the  Roths- 
childs' banking  business  is  still  carried  on  in 
Frankfort,  a  plain  four- storied  modern  building 
being  occupied,  only  a  stone's  throw  from  old 
Mayer  Rothschild's  narrow  quarters  in  the  Juden- 
gasse. 


CHAPTER  YII. 

BAVARIA-THE  ANCIENT  CITY  OF  NUREMBERG-MUNICH  AND  ITS 
PICTURE  GALLERIES-ITS  BRONZE  FOUNDRY— GERMAN  TREE 
CULTURE— GERMAN  COINAGE— FREEDOM  FROM  PAUPERISM- 
CONTINENTAL  SUNDAYS. 

*'  In  the  valley  of  the  Pegnitz,  where  across  broad  meadow  lands 
Rise  the  blue  Franconlan  mountains,  Nuremberg',  the  ancient,  stands; 
Quaint  old  town  of  toil  and  traffic,  quaint  old  town  of  art  and  song, 
Memories  haunt  thy  pointed  gables,  like  the  rooks  that  round  them  throng. " 

—Longfellov). 

ALF  a  day's  ride  from  Frankfort  brings  us 
to  the  interesting  old  city-of  Nuremberg. 
This  we  had  long  looked  forward  with 
pleasure  to  seeing,  as  the  best  preserved  mediaeval 
city  on  the  continent.  Nor  were  we  disap- 
pointed. It  is  surrounded  with  a  splendid  stoile 
wall  and  a  moat  at  least  fifty  feet  wide.  It  also 
has  dozens  of  towers  for  defense,  some  of  them  of 
great  height  and  strength.  The  streets  are  usu- 
ally of  good  width,  and  the  houses  broad  and 
large,  indicating  a  prevalence  of  wealth  and  com- 
parative luxury  at  the  time  they  were  erected. 
They  are  usually  three  or  four  full  stories  high, 
with  high  roofs  above  containing  from  two  to  six 
additional  attic  stories  lighted  by  dormer  win- 
dows. The  houses  are  commonly  of  stone  with 
walls  of  great  thickness,  though  the  projecting 
fronts  of  fiUed-in  frame  work  are  also  common. 


64  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

The  predominating  feature  of  the  town  is  the 
immense  quantity  of  elaborate  stone  carving 
which  ornaments  walls,  towers,  churches  and 
private  buildings,  rendering  the  city  extremely 
picturesque  and  interesting.  This  feature  results, 
first,  from  Nuremberg  being  in  early  days  a 
famous  center  of  art,  and  second,  from  the  city 
being  built  mainly  of  a  species  of  soft  sandstone, 
in  which  sculptures  can  almost  be  whittled  out 
with  a  jack-knife.  This  combination  of  circum- 
stances has  given  almost  every  other  house  some 
quaint  device  in  stone,  while  no  churches  I  have 
elsewhere  seen  have  been,  for  their  size  and 
importance,  so  rich  in  sculptures.  The  two  prin- 
cipal churches  are  those  of  St.  Lawrence  and  St. 
Sebald,  both  quite  cathedral-like  in  their  propor- 
tions and  artistic  beauty,  and  each  claiming  a 
good  two  hours  for  its  inspection. 

Albert  Durer,  Germany's  greatest  painter  and 
engraver,  was  a  native  and  resident  of  Nurem- 
berg, and  both  the  house  in  which  he  was  born, 
in  1471,  and  that  in  which  he  lived  in  mature  life 
are  still  to  be  seen.  Nuremberg  reverences 
Durer  as  Antwerp  does  Kubens,  and  memorials 
of  him  stand  out  in  every  feature  of  the  place. 
Besides  Durer,  Nuremberg  ^as  the  home  of  Peter 
Vischer  and  Adam  Kraift,^both  eminent  sculp- 
tors, some  of  the  best  works  of  whom  adorn  the 
churches  of  the  place.     We  stayed  at  Nuremberg 


MUNICH.  65 

a  day  and  a  half,  and  could  with  difficulty  tear 
ourselves  away.  Nuremberg  is  situated  on  the 
river  Pegnitz,  a  tributary  of  the  Main,  and  now 
contains  about  one  hundred  thousand  inhabi- 
tants. It  is  peculiarly  a  protestant  city,  possess- 
ing but  one  catholic  church,  and  that  a  small  one. 
It  is  within  the  jurisdiction  of  Bavaria,  but  from 
remarks  dropped  by  people  there  I  fancy  the 
emperor  of  Germany  is  far  more  popular  than 
king  Louis  II. 

Munich,  the  capital  of  Bavaria,  is  five  hours' 
ride  south  of  Nuremberg,  and  is  described  in  all 
the  guide  books  and  foreign  letters  as  one  of  the 
finest  little  cities  on  the  continent.  Perhaps  I 
had  been  led  to  exjDect  too  much,  for  I  certainly 
was  grievously  disappointed  in  it.  Its  streets,  it 
is  true,  are  broad  and  straight  and  reasonably 
well  paved  and  clean,  but  architecturally  Munich 
stands  nowhere.  It  has  scarcely  a  single  really 
fine  church  that  I  can  discover,  although  the 
Basilica,  a  recent  structure,  is  immense  in  its  size 
and  gorgeous  with  rich  marbles  and  frescoes.  The 
public  buildings,  as  a  rule,  are  pretentious,  but 
lacking  in  beauty.  One  very  imposing  structure 
when  seen  from  a  little  distance,  known  as  the 
Hall  of  Fame,  we  find  on  approach  to  be  a  mere 
portico  with  nothing  back  of  it.  It  contains 
busts  of  about  a  hundred  of  the  eminent  men  of 
Bavaria,    including    Durer,    Krafft,    Jean   Paul 


66  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

Ricnter.  etc.  Another  costly  building,  the  New 
Pinakothek,  instead  of  being  of  stone  with  bold 
cornices  and  pilasters,  is  of  brick  finished  with 
plaster  almost  perfectly  flat,  and  depending  for 
its  exterior  ornamentation  on  a  series  of  enor- 
mous frescoes  by  Kaulbach,  which  have  already 
faded  to  an  extent  that  renders  them  an  eye- sore 
rather  than  a  thing  of  beauty.  Stucco  takes  the 
place  of  stone  almost  universally,  and  not  only  is 
but  little  constructional  ornamentation  possible, 
but  everything  is  left  of  a  dirty  yellow  color  that 
gives  it  a  cheap  look. 

Munich  has  two  very  pretentious  picture  gal- 
leries, the  New  Pinakothek,  containing  the  works 
of  modern  artists,  and  the  Old  Pinakothek,  con- 
taining works  of  the  old  masters  alone.  The  lat- 
ter was  founded  by  Maximilian  I.,  first  King  of 
Bavaria,  in  1822,  and  the  building  was  completed 
and  opened  in  1836.  The  collection  of  pictures 
was  formed  by  the  consolidation  of  several  pre- 
vfously  distinct  collections,  including  that  of 
Dusseldorf.  The  pictures  are  so  arranged  as  to 
illustrate  the  progress  of  the  art  in  the  last  four 
centuries. 

The  royal  bronze  foundry  is  one  of  the  lions  of 
Munich.  The  charge  for  admission  is  forty  pfen- 
nigs (10  cents).  The  first  thing  that  caught  my 
eye  on  entering  the  inclosure  was  the  model  from 
which  the  statue  of  Michigan,  which  surmounts 


THE  ROYAL  BRONZE  FOUNDRY.  67 

the  Detroit  Soldiers'  Monument,  was  cast.  The 
museum  of  the  foundry  contains  a  large  number 
of  the  original  models  from  which  the  more  famous 
statues  have  been  made  including  that  of  Wash- 
ington (colossal  equestrian)  at  Richmond,  Va., 
Clay,  Webster,  Jefferson,  Chief  Justice  Marshall, 
Lincoln,  Everett,  Benton,  and  other  prominent 
Americans;  Goethe,  Schiller,  Marshal  Bernadotte, 
king  of  Sweden,  Prince  Milan  of  Servia,  Gen. 
Bolivar  (the  last  three  magnificent  equestrian 
statues)  and  many  others,  also  the  models  of 
the  bronze  doors  of  the  Capitol  at  Washington. 
America  seems  to  have  been  by  far  the  best  cus- 
tomer of  this  royal  foundry,  though  statues  have 
been  cast  in  it  for  almost  every  civilized  nation  on 
the  globe.  The  works  are  now  employed  on  a 
colossal  statue  of  Germany  to  be  erected  at  Bin- 
gen.  It  will  be  represented  as  a  buxom  female 
forty  feet  high,  and  will  require  three  years  to 
complete.  A  still  larger  statue  representing 
Bavaria  was  turned  out  at  this  foundry  some 
years  since,  and  is  now  one  of  the  sights  of 
Munich.  It  is  fifty-four  feet  high  and  stands 
on  a  pedestal  forty  feet  high.  Steps  in  the  inte- 
rior lead  uj)  to  the  lady's  head,  which  will  hold 
eight  grown  peojjle  at  one  time. 

The  bricks  used  in  Munich  are  twelve  and  a 
half  inches  long,  six  wide,  and  three  thick.  Yery 
coarse  mortar  is  used  with  them.     Partition  walls 


68  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

are  built  six  inches  thick  and  plastered  directly  on 
the  brick  work.  For  ceilings,  after  lathing  with 
wood,  a  cross  lathing  of  wire  is  nsed  in  some 
buildings,  the  wires  being  half  an  inch  apart.  For 
sidewalk  paving  hard  burned  tiles  eight  inches 
square  and  one  and  a  half  thick  are  used.  They 
make  a  nice  walk  and  are  probably  cheaper  and 
more  durable  than  stone. 

The  only  kind  of  heating  apparatus  we  saw  on 
the  continent  was  a  tall  rectangular  stove  made 
of  tiles,  usually  white  and  glazed,  but  sometimes 
ornamented.  It  stands  six  or  seven  feet  high, 
looks  very  neat,  and  is  probably  economical  of 
fuel. 

One  of  the  noticeable  features  of  the  country  in 
traveling  through  Germany  is  the  extent  to  which 
tree  culture  is  practiced.  We  often  pass  on  the 
railway  large  tracts  of  land  covered  with  pine 
trees,  all  planted  in  rows  like  corn,  and  so  thickly 
that  they  grow  up  tall  and  straight  with  no 
lateral  branches.  The  question  suggests  itself, 
might  it  not  pay  to  plant  similar  tracts  to  timber 
in  the  United  States  ?  One  might  have  to  wait 
some  time  for  returns,  but  they  would  be  certain 
and  lucrative  when  they  did  come. 

Another  feature  is  the  great  number  of  crosses, 
crucifixes  and  images  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  that 
are  seen  along  the  highways  and  in  the  fields. 
Some  are  quite  large,  others  small  and  protected 


NOTICEABLE  FEATURES  OF  GERMANY.  69 

by  little  shrines.  In  the  villages  and  cities,  nota- 
bly Nuremberg,  almost  every  corner  house  has  a 
little  niche  in  the  angle  from  which  a  little  gaudy 
image  looks  down  upon  the  passer-by. 

We  began  to  notice  in  Brussels  that  the  horses 
were  of  superior  quality.  Down  in  Bavaria  the 
heavy  draft  horses  are  simply  magnificent.  A 
team  of  four  attached  to  a  heavy  brewer  s  truck, 
as  seen  in  the  streets  of  Munich,  would  be  a 
notable  sight  in  America.  Oxen  are  very  much  in 
use  and  are  often  driven  singly.  Instead  of  the 
heavy  cumbersome  yoke  used  in  this  country, 
they  are  made  to  draw  by  their  heads,  a  padded 
stick  being  placed  across  their  foreheads,  sus- 
pended from  the  horns,  and  traces  being  attached 
to  the  ends. 

Under  the  present  imperial  government  there 
has  been  a  reconstruction  and  unification  of  the 
coinage  of  Germany.  The  unit  in  their  system  is 
the  mark,  as  th<^  franc  is  in  France,  the  pound  in 
England,  and  the  dollar  in  our  own  country. 
The  value  of  the  mark  is  twenty-four  cents  in  our 
currency,  and  it  is  subdivided  into  one  hundred 
parts  called  pfennigs,  the  value  of  a  single  pfen- 
nig being  about  a  quarter  of  a  cent.  The  coins 
struck  are  one  and  two  pfennig  pieces  in  copper ; 
five  and  ten  pfennigs  in  nickel,  twenty  and  fifty 
pfennigs,  and  one,  two,  three  and  five  marks  in 
silver;  and  five,  ten  and  twenty  marks  in  gold. 


70  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

The  necessity  for  the  smaller  coins  may  be  ques- 
tioned, but  everything  is  cheap  in  Germany  and 
they  are  frequently  required,  as  for  illustration 
in  paying  the  tolls  over  the  Rhine  at  Coblenz, 
which  are  two  pfennigs  per  head,  or  a  scant  half 
cent. 

Germany,  at  the  time  of  our  visit,  was  suffering 
from  "hard  times" — the  reaction  from  the  era  of 
prosperity  which  followed  the  unification  of  the 
German  states,  the  conquest  of  France,  and  the- 
re-establishment of  the  Empire.  It  is  a  note- 
worthy fact  that  even  in  such  times  of  depression 
there  is  in  Germany  no  poverty  apparent  on  the 
surface,  and  no  poor  laws  or  boards  of  associated 
charities.  There  is  no  need  for  them  ;  the  pru- 
dent, independent  German  shapes  his  expenses  to 
his  income,  and  if  he  has  but  ten  cents  a  day  he 
will  manage  to  live  on  it.  I  submit  that  this  is  a 
condition  of  things  infinitely  superior  to  our 
American  system,  where  a  large  percentage  of  the 
population  has  to  be  constantly  supported  by  the 
remainder.  In  this  branch  of  social  science  I  am 
strongly  inclined  to  believe  our  Teutonic  cousins 
are  far  in  advance  of  us,  and  that  sooner  or  later 
we  shall  have  to  adopt  their  theories.  Our  Amer- 
ican system  is  a  mere  cultivation  of  pauperism. 

In  Munich  we  had  our  first  experience  of  a 
so-called  "continental  Sunday."  The  first  thing 
we  saw  from  our  windows  on  the  Sunday  we  were 


A  CONTIKENTAL  SUNDAY. 


71 


there  was  the  shopkeepers  taking  down  their 
shutters  and  arranging  their  goods  in  their  win- 
dows. Then  a  large  load  of  beer  barrels  came 
along ;  then  a  load  of  sand  and  all  the  ordinary 
traffic  of  a  week  day.  As  we  passed  through  the 
streets  on  our  way  to  church,  people  could  be 
seen  at  work  in  all  the  various  shops,  trucks  were 
delivering  goods,  and  altogether  it  was  hard  to 
believe  it  was  really  Sunday.  We  went  into 
three  or  four  churches,  Catholic  and  Protestant, 
and  found  only  mere  handfuls  of  worshipers. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  TYROL-INNSBRUCK-HOFER  THE  PATRIOT-JMAXBHLIAN'S 
TOMB-OVER  THE  ALPS  BY  THE  BRENNER  PASS-ARRIVAL  IN 
ITALY. 

Ht  was  cloudy  when  we  arrived  at  Municli,  and 
f[^  we  did  not  notice  the  beautiful  mountains 
which  lay  to  the  southward  of  the  city;  but 
on  our  departure,  as  soon  as  we  were  clear  of  the 
houses,  the  panorama  which  met  our  view  in  the 
snow-clad  Bavarian  Alps  glistening  in  the  mid- 
day sun  was  truly  magnificent.  It  took  us  three 
hours  to  reach  their  base.  Meanwhile  the  scenery 
greatly  changed.  North  of  Munich  we  were  very 
much  reminded  of  the  Illinois  prairies,  both  by 
the  lay  of  the  land  and  the  methods  of  cultiva- 
tion, but  as  we  approached  the  mountains  a 
decidedly  Swiss  aspect  began  to  be  assumed. 
The  farm  houses  began  to  exhibit  a  peculiar  style 
— oblong  in  shape,  with  the  residence  portion  at 
one  end  and  the  barns  and  stables  at  the  other. 
The  roofs  became  rather  flat  and  projecting,  and 
one  or  two  verandas  usually  ornamented  the 
fronts.  Stone  was  the  material  of  the  walls  and 
shingles  of  the  roofs,  the  latter  being  held  down 
by  heavy  stones  laid  upon  them. 


INNSBRUCK.  73 

The  railroad  penetrates  the  mountains,  follow- 
ing the  valley  of  the  Inn,  a  tributary  of  the  Dan- 
ube. At  Kufstein,  a  little  place  shut  in  by  lofty 
mountain  peaks,  we  enter  the  Tyrol.  We  are 
now  in  Austrian  territory,  and  here  have  to 
undergo  that  always  annoying  process,  the 
examination  of  our  baggage.  This  causes  a  tedi- 
ous delay,  and  it  is  late  in  the  evening  before  we 
reach  Innsbruck,  one  hundred  miles  south  of 
Munich.  We  find  prices  higher,  and  the  people 
more  grasping,  in  Austria  than  in  Germany. 

Innsbruck  is  a  delightful  little  city  of  twenty- 
three  thousand  inhabitants,  dropped  right  down 
in  a  deep  valley  among  the  mountains.  The  latter 
seem  to  rise  on  every  hand  but  a  few  blocks  away 
from  the  beholder,  and  they  tower  u-p  thousands 
of  feet  and  are  capped  with  snow  for  the  greater 
part  of  the  year.  Innsbruck  is  the  chief  city  of 
the  Tyrol,  and  is  a  place  of  some  historic  note. 
The  German  emperor  Maximilian  I.  (1459-1519), 
made  it  one  of  his  capitals,  and  himself  lies 
buried  in  one  of  the  churches  of  the  place.  Sev- 
enty-two years  ago  it  was  the  scene  of  the  famous 
exploit  of  Andrew  Ilofer,  who,  a  poor  peasant 
inn-keeper,  raised  the  Tyrol  against  Napoleonic 
dominion,  defeated  the  emx)eror's  ablest  general 
in  a  pitched  battle,  and  compelled  Bonaparte  to 
vary  his  usual  tactics  and  conclude  an  armistice 
with  other  foes  in  order  to  concentrate  against 


74  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

the  Tyrolese  an  overwhelming  force.  Hofer  was 
then  defeated  by  sheer  force  of  numbers  and  com- 
pelled to  take  refuge  in  flight.  He  was  subse- 
quently betrayed  to  the  French,  taken  to  Mantua, 
and  shot  like  a  dog.  He  now  lies  buried  in  the 
Hof  church  at  Innsbruck,  in  company  with  the 
great  Maximilian.  The  scene  of  his  great  battle 
in  which  he  defeated  the  French  in  the  spring  of 
1809,  is  a  low  hill  just  south  of  and  overlooking 
the  city. 

The  newer  portions  of  Innsbruck  are  finely 
built,  with  broad  streets  and  palatial  looking 
structures.  The  older  part  has  narrower  streets, 
with  low  arcades  on  either  side  through  which 
the  sidewalks  extend,  and  upon  which  the  curi- 
ous but  well-stocked  little  stores  open.  These 
arcades  are  very  quaint  and  pleasant  to  walk 
through. 

Maximilian's  tomb,  referred  to  above,  is  reck- 
oned the  very  finest  in  Europe,  and  certainly  we 
saw  none  more  beautiful  or  interesting.  It  stands 
in  the  center  of  the  Hof  church,  and  with  its 
accessories  pretty  much  monopolizes  all  the  space 
in  it.  Extending  down  the  nave  of  the  church, 
facing  and  flanking  the  tomb,  are  a  series  of 
twenty-eight  fine  bronze  statues  something  more 
than  life  size,  and  all  of  sixteenth  century  work. 
They  represent  tlie  famous  ancestors  of  Maxi- 
milian, male  and  female,  in  the  armor  or  costume 


THE  TYROL.  75 

of  their  day,  and  include  the  renowned  crusader 
Godfrey  de  Bouillon,  King  of  Jerusalem.  The 
tomb  itself  contains  twenty-four  panels  of  marble, 
each  exquisitely  carved  in  high  relief,  for  which 
the  Tyrol  is  so  famous,  and  each  representing 
some  scene  in  Maximilian's  life.  We  had  seen 
plenty  of  fine  bas-reliefs,  but  none  before  that  so 
filled  us  with  wonder  and  delight.  In  the  space 
of  a  yard  in  length  there  would  be  hundreds  of 
figures,  with  arms,  armor  and  costume,  even  the 
embroidered  dresses,  faithful  to  life.  Maximil- 
ian was  the  immediate  predecessor  of  the  emperor 
Charles  Y.,  and  reigned  from  1493  to  1519. 

The  Tyrol  embraces  eleven '  thousand  square 
miles  of  mountainous  country  lying  to  the  east 
of  Switzerland.  About  one-third  of  this  territory 
is  perpetually  covered  with  snow,  another  third 
is  covered  with  dense  forests,  and  the  remainder 
is  mostly  pasture  land.  The  population  numbers 
nearly  nine  hundred  thousand  souls,  two-thirds 
being  of  German  stock  and  speaking  the  German 
language,  and  one-third  Italian.  The  former 
inhabit  the  northern  slopes  and  valleys  of  the 
Rhsetian  Alps,  the  latter  the  southern.  The 
Tyrolese  are  notably  fond  of  music  and  athletic 
exercises.  Education  is  widely  diffused.  Inns- 
bruck boasts  an  extensive  university.  The  prov- 
ince has  belonged  to  Austria  since  1363. 

The  Tyrol  is  famous  for  its  wood  carvings,  and 


76  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

particularly  for  its  pictures  carved  in  relief,  which 
are  exquisitely  beautiful  and  artistic,  and  if  one 
only  has  a  well-lined  pocket  book  Innsbruck  is  a 
very  seductive  place  for  its  depletion.  The  place 
has  also  good  hotels,  and  is  altogether  a  desirable 
point  for  a  few  days'  sojourn. 

An  afternoon's  ride  over  the  Alps,  by  the 
famous  Brenner  Pass  railway,  brings  us  into 
Italy.  This  railway  was  opened  in  1867,  and  is 
regarded  as  one  of  the  most  difficult  pieces  of 
railway  engineering  in  Europe.  Leaving  Inns- 
bruck we  rapidly  ascend  to  a  height  of  four 
thousand  six  hundred  feet  above  the  sea,  with 
mountains  all  around  us  rivaling  our  own  Mount 
Washington  in  altitude.  In  a  distance  of  sev- 
enty-eight miles  the  road  passes  through  twenty- 
two  tunnels  and  over  sixty  bridges.  Its  grades 
are  in  places  one  foot  in  forty,  and  very  powerful 
engines  are  employed  to  draw  the  trains,  notwith- 
standing which  we  travel  very  slowly  —  prob- 
ably not  over  six  miles  per  hour  while  making  the 
ascent.  We  follow  in  the  ascent  the  course  of  a 
little  mountain  stream,  so  have  a  deep  valley  on 
one  side  of  us.  The  scenery  is  very  interesting. 
Twice  in  the  distance,  in  order  to  eif ect  an  abrupt 
elevation  to  a  higher  level,  the  road  branches  off 
up  a  lateral  gorge,  and  after  proceeding  some  dis- 
tance, in  one  case  a  few  miles,  enters  a  tunnel  in 
which  it  describes  a  complete  semi-circle,  when  it 


INTO  ITALY.  77 

returns  to  the  point  of  divergence  at  a  few  hundred 
feet  higher  level,  the  tracks  to  and  from  the  turn- 
ing tunnel  being  parallel  to  and  in  sight  of  each 
other  the  whole  distance.  This  is  probably  the 
only  railway  in  the  world  where  a  passenger  can 
leave  his  train,  walk  leisurely  a  few  hundred 
yards  and  sit  down  at  a  cafe  to  a  glass  of  beer 
and  wait  for  his  train  to  overtake  him.  This  can 
literally  be  done  at  one  of  the  points  of  diverg- 
ence just  mentioned. 

Botzen,  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains  on  the 
Italian  side,  is  a  place  of  considerable  import- 
ance, and  lies  in  a  rich  valley  thickly  surrounded 
by  vineyards.  A  hundred  miles  more  through 
the  fertile  valley  of  the  Eisack,  which  lower  down 
becomes  the  Adige,  with  mountains  in  the  back- 
ground on  either  side,  brings  us  to  Yerona  in 
Italy. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

ITALY— VERONA,  ITS  ARENA  AND  CHURCHES-PADUA— ARCADED 
STREETS— THE  SHRINE  OF  ST.  ANTHONY— ITALIAN  AGRI- 
CULTURE. 

UR  first  experience  of  Italy  was  in  Yerona, 
and  we  were  not  favorably  impressed.  It 
is  a  dirty  place,  abounding  in  beggars,  and 
with  very  little  of  interest  to  3ee  except  its  Arena 
or  ancient  colosseum,  resembling  the  famous  one 
at  Rome  but  smaller  and  in  much  better  state  of 
preservation.  The  Arena  is  oval  in  form  and 
built  wholly  of  stone.  There  is  a  level  space  in 
the  center,  eighty-three  yards  long  and  forty-three 
wide,  for  the  games  and  other  exhibitions,  and 
from  this,  tiers  of  stone  seats  rise  all  around  like 
the  seats  in  a  circus.  There  are  forty-five  rovvs 
of  these  seats,  and  it  is  estimated  that  they  Avould 
seat  twenty-five  thousand  spectators.  Above  the 
uppermost  row  was  originally  an  arcade  or  gal- 
lery in  which  still  more  people  could  stand  and 
watch  the  i^erformances.  Only  a  small  x)ortion 
of  the  exterior  wall  remains  standing,  but  enough 
to  show  the  design  of  the  whole  in  its  com- 
pleted state.  The  outer  wall  is  one  hundred  and 
six  feet  high,  and  presents  three  stories  of  arched 

78 


VERONA.  79 

openings.  The  entire  building  is  five  hundred 
and  four  feet  long  and  four  hundred  and  two 
wide.  It  is  constructed  with  massive  piers  of 
stone,  connected  by  vaultings,  so  as  to  form  inter- 
secting x^assages,  one  set  radiating  from  the  cen- 
ter, the  other  encircling  it.  In  the  lower  story 
there  are  three  of  these  encircling  arcades  or  pass- 
ages, in  the  second  two,  and  in  the  third  the  one 
mentioned  above  as  surmounting  the  seats.  The 
vaulting  is  partly  of  brick,  and  partly  of  concrete 
and  cobblestone  boulders.  The  seats  are  all  of 
native  marble,  dressed  but  not  polished.  The 
Arena  is  believed  to  have  been  built  in  the  time 
of  the  Emperor  Diocletian,  A.  D.  284,  which 
would  make  it  about  sixteen  hundred  years  old. 
The  tombs  of  the  Scaligers  are  perhax)s  the  next 
object  in  order  of  interest.  As  the  famous  Medici 
family  by  their  wealth  and  abilities  made  them- 
selves rulers  of  Florence,  so  did  the  Scaligers 
supplant  the  republic  of  Verona,  and  establish  in 
their  family  an  hereditary  rulership.  This  lasted 
from  1260  to  1389,  and  it  was  the  golden  age  for 
Yerona.  The  proud  Scaligers  scorned  to  have 
their  tombs  hidden  away  in  churches  and  fixed 
up  a  little  cemetery  for  themselves  in  the  heart 
of  the  city,  where  every  passer-by  would  be 
reminded  of  their  greatness.  The  tombs  are  very 
rich  and  costly,  but  after  all  do  not  create  very 
much  of  an  impression  on  the  average  tourist. 


80  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

The  clinrclies  of  Yerona  are  rather  magnificent 
as  to  size,  but  like  most  of  the  churches  of  Italy- 
were  commenced  on  so  grand  a  scale  that  they 
never  could  be  completed.  They  are  for  the 
most  part  immense  ugly  piles  of  rough  brick- 
work, the  unfulfilled  intention  having  been  to 
encase  them  with  marble.  Interiorly  they  are 
finished  Avith  plaster  and  faded  frescoes,  and 
come  far  short,  in  elegance  and  impressiveness, 
of  the  Gothic  cathedrals  and  churches  of  England 
and  northern  Germany. 

As  our  omnibus  drives  through  one  of  the  gates 
of  Yerona  on  the  way  from  the  station  to  the 
hotel  it  suddenly  stops.  An  official  thrusts  his 
head  in  and  rattles  off  a  few  words  in  Italian.  We 
have  not  the  slightest  idea  what  he  says,  so  we 
make  no  reply.  He  seems  satisfied,  and  we  drive 
on  again.  We  then  remember  that  French  and 
Italian  cities  raise  part  of  their  municipal  reve- 
nue by  levying  a  tax  on  all  articles  of  food 
brought  into  the  city.  This  is  called  an  octroi, 
and  officers  are  posted  at  all  the  gates  to  inspect 
every  vehicle  entering  the  same,  and  collect  the 
tax  should  provisions  constitute  any  part  of  the 
load.  The  man  was  simply  inquiring  if  we  had 
anything  in  our  baggage  liable  to  octroi  duty. 

We  lay  over  for  three  or  four  hours  at  the 
sleepy  old  city  of  Padua,  the  seat  of  the  once 
famous  university,  founded  in  1238,  and  whicli 


PADUA.  81 

throughout  the  middle  ages  made  Padua  a  place 
of  renown.  Although  possessing  sixty-six  thou- 
sand inhabitants  Padua  presents  scarcely  any 
signs  of  life.  The  streets  are  narrow  and  lined 
with  arcades  such  as  exist  in  the  older  portions 
of  Innsbruck.  Indeed,  there  is  hardly  any  side- 
walk exposed  overhead.  On  heft  days  these 
Italian  arcaded  streets  are  very  delightful.  I 
wonder  we  have  never  adopted  the  idea  in  Amer- 
ica. There  is  very  little  to  see  in  Padua  beyond 
a  few  interesting  old  churches.  The  principal  of 
these  is  the  church  of  St.  Anthony,  founded 
about  1250.  It  is  of  immense  size  and  contains  a 
great  number  of  very  fine  monuments,  but  itiS 
great  central  attraction  is  the  chapel  and  shrine 
of  the  patron  saint.  The  chapel  is  entirely  of 
marble,  elegant  in  design  and  rich  and  beautiful 
in  its  elaborately  carved  ornamentation.  It  was 
designed  by  the  great  Venetian  architect  Sanso- 
vino,  who  was  born  in  1477  and  died  1570. 
Around  the  chapel  are  a  series  of  fine  bas-reliefs 
illustrating  incidents  in  the  life  of  the  saint,  and 
each  one  is  the  work  of  a  master  in  the  art  of 
sculpture.  St  Anthony's  tomb  forms  the  altar  of 
the  chapel,  and  at  the  time  we  visited  it  a  crowd 
of  devotees  thronged  its  rear,  laying  their  hands 
upon  it  while  reciting  their  prayers. 

Two  other  churches  contain  in  dilapidated  con- 
dition much  prized    frescoes,    those  in  the  one 
ft 


82  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

painted  by  Giotto,  one  of  the  earliest  Florentine 
artists;  those  in  the  other  by  Andrea  Mantegna, 
the  great  Paduan  master. 

Such  draft  animals  and  vehicles  as  they  use  at 
Padua  would  fairly  make  a  western  man  laugh. 
Of  the  latter  there  seem  to  have  been  no  new  ones 
built  for  a  century  at  least,  or  if  there  have  been 
they  were  built  after  last  century's  pattern.  •  We 
saw  horses  at  work  that  could  not  have  weighed 
over  three  hundred  pounds ;  but  little  donkeys 
were  most  numerous,  and  they  drew  loads  that 
would  shame  an  American  horse. 

The  country  in  northern  Italy  in  May  looks 
very  beautiful — vegetation  quite  a  month  in 
advance  of  what  it  is  in  our  northern  states. 
Rows  of  trees  at  intervals  of  a  few  rods  intersect 
every  field  and  line  every  road,  giving  the  coun- 
try an  attractive  appearance.  The  practice  is 
universal  of  pruning  down  the  shade  trees  till 
they  grow  with  great  ugly  knobs  a  few  feet  from 
the  ground.  The  prunings  supply  the  people 
with  fuel,  and  the  trees  do  not  by  their  shade 
affect  the  crops  cultivated  beneath  them.  In  this 
part  of  Italy  they  are  also  used  instead  of  trel- 
lises to  support  the  grape  vines.  On  the  Rhine 
the  vines  are  cut  off  close  to  the  ground,  only  one 
or  two  shoots  being  left  for  bearing.  These  are 
tied  to  a  single  upright  stake  four  or  five  feet 
long.     At  Botzen  and  above  Yerona  the  vines 


ITALIAIT  VIKEYARDS.  83 

grow  up  straight  for  two  or  three  feet,  then  are 
trained  over  a  sloping  trellis  five  or  six  feet  wide 
— a  mnch  more  complex  system,  but  one  expos- 
ing the  leaves  and  fruit  to  the  sun  and  keeping 
the  ground  below  well  shaded.  South  of  Verona 
trellises  are  dispensed  with  altogether,  and  the 
vines  are  trained  from  tree  to  tree  like  clothes- 
lines. All  the  horned  cattle  we  see  in  Italy  are 
uniformly  of  a  grayish  white  color,  with  extraor- 
dinarily long  horns.  The  rivers  are  all  above  the 
level  of  the  adjacent  country,  and  require  to  be 
diked. 


CHAPTER  X. 

VENICE— ITS  HISTORY-FIRST  IMPRESSIONS— THE  CANALS  AND 
GONDOLAS— THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  MARK'S— THE  BRIobE  OF 
SIGHS— VENETIAN  ART. 

MN  crossing  the  Alps  one  is  struck  with  the 
1^  perishable  quality  of  the  rock,  and  the  great 
quantities  of  alluvium  that  are  carried  down 
by  the  rapid  streams.  The  rivers  of  north-eastern 
Italy  rival  the  Missouri  for  muddiness,  and  their 
mouths  are  a  repetition  of  the  large  areas  of 
alluvial  deposit  found  at  the  mouth  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. Places  once  on  the  coast  are  now  in  some 
cases  fifteen  miles  inland.  The  lands  are  low,  and 
waters  shallow.  A  mile  or  two  off  the  main  shore 
a  series  of  low  islands  has  been  formed  by  the 
combined  action  of  the  rivers  and  the  sea.  On  a 
group  of  these  islands  the  city  of  Venice  has 
grown  up. 

Under  the  Romans  north-eastern  Italy  had 
become  very  rich  and  populous.  When  the 
country  was  over-run  by  the  barbaric  Lombards 
in  the  seventh  century,  many  of  the  people  took 
refuge  on  the  islands  off  the  coast,  and  some  of 
these  being  found  easily  defended  they  became 
the  seat  of  a  populous  colony.     Having  no  lands 

84 


HISTORY  OF  VENICE.  85 

to  cultivate,  the  inliabitants  turned  their  attention 
CO  commerce,  and  like  all  commercial  peoples, 
soon  became  very  rich  and  powerful.  The  trade 
of  the  world  was  carried  on  by  Venice.  At  the 
height  of  her  prosperity  the  little  islands  num- 
bered a  population  of  two  hundred  thousand 
souls,  possessing  three  hundred  ships  and  a  fleet 
of  forty-five  armed  galleys.  For  the  convenience 
of  her  trade  Venice  had  conquered  possessions 
on  all  the  coasts  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  at  one 
time  was  even  master  of  Constantinople.  Coeval 
with  the  discovery  of  America  its  decay  began, 
and  continued  steadily  for  three  hundred  years. 
In  1797  Napoleon  occupied  Venice — the  first 
foreign  foe  who  had  ever  held  possession  of  it — 
and  at  his  downfall  in  1815  the  territory  was 
given  to  Austria,  by  whom  it  was  held  till  1866, 
when,  as  a  result  of  the  weakening  of  the 
latter' s  power  by  the  war  with  Prussia,  Venice 
was  united  to  the  kingdom  of  Italy. 

As  we  approach  Venice  the  country  becomes 
fiat  and  low.  Bits  of  marsh  land  appear.  Then 
we  find  ourselves  on  the  bridge,  two  and  a  half 
miles  long,  which  connects  Venice  with  the  main 
land.  The  water  crossed  is  shallow,  and  still  as  a 
mill  pond,  and  is  called  the  lagoon.  A  few  fish^ 
ing  boats  are  scattered  over  it.  In  a  few  minutes 
w^e  are  in  a  large  covered  railway  station,  from 
which  we  emerge  on  a  fine  stone  quay  fronting 


86  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

on  the  grand  canal.  The  sight  that  meets  the- 
eye  is  a  curious  one.  Dozens  of  funereal  gon- 
dolas are  crowding  their  way  to  the  landing, 
and  one  by  one  they  receive  their  passengers  and 
quickly  row  away.  We  get  into  one,  with  all  our 
baggage.  It  is  about  thirty  feet  long,  and  armed 
at  its  prow  with  a  tall  iron  meat-cleaver  sort  of 
ornament.  It  is  painted  black  and  a  black  pall 
is  hung  over  the  little  covered  cabin  in  the  center. 
Arriving  in  the  evening,  as  we  did,  this  being  met 
by  hearses  at  the  depot  is  quite  impressive.  It 
seems  that  an  old  law  required  this  mourning, 
and  the  law  has  never  been  repealed.  Two  men 
row  the  boat— one  at  the  bow,  the  other  at  the 
stern.  Each  uses  a  single  oar  and  rows  stand- 
ing and  facing  in  the  direction  we  are  going.  The 
delicacy  and  precision  with  which  the  boat  is 
managed  is  quite  remarkable.  We  turn  off  into  a 
minor  canal  perhaps  twenty  feet  wide.  Houses 
rise  on  both  sides  of  us  directly  from  the  water's 
edge.  Scarce  a  light  is  seen  in  them  and  all  is 
still  as  the  grave,  save  for  the  plash  of  the  gondo- 
liers' oars.  Presently  we  meet  another  boat;  a 
sharj:),  clear  word  in  Italian  indicates  on  which 
side  we  are  to  pass.  Another  word,  shouted  just 
as  we  are  about  to  turn  a  corner,  preiDares  any 
boat  that  may  be  coming  through  the  intersecting 
canal,  to  meet  us,  and  prevents  a  collision.  But 
for  these  occasional  cries  and  the  plash  of  the 


DESCRIPTION  OF  VEIS'ICE.  87 

oars  we  should  scarcely  know  that  a  living  soul 
was  within  miles  of  ns.  The  boat  at  last  pulls 
up  at  a  flight  of  stone  stairs.  A  posse  of  clerks 
and  waiters  assist  us  to  land  and  escort  us  into 
the  hotel.  We  cross  courts,  ascend  stairs,  look 
down  into  other  courts,  traverse  corridors  and  at 
last  find  ourselves  in  a  pleasant  suite  of  rooms  in 
the  excellent  Hotel  Victoria.  Inside,  all  is  bright 
and  gay,  and  in  striking  contrast  with  the  gloom 
and  loneliness  of  the  watery  streets. 

There  are  said  to  be  one  hundred  and  fifty 
canals  in  Venice,  crossed  by  three  hundred  and 
seventy-eight  bridges.  The  grand  canal  winds 
through  the  city  like  a  reversed  letter  S,  and  is, 
perhaps,  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  wide.  The 
rest  I  should  think  were  from  twelve  to  thirty 
feet.  Some  have  narrow  streets  running  along 
their  banks,  others  are  bordered  directly  by  the 
houses.  The  tide,  which  rises  and  falls  about  two 
feet,  keeps  the  canals  tolerably  pure.  All  the 
heavy  trafiic  is  done  by  boating  through  these 
canals,  for,  excepting  the  four  bronze  horses  stolen 
from  Constantinople  and  contributed  to  the  decor- 
ation of  St.  Mark's  (they  stand  over  the  front 
portal),  there  is  not  a  beast  of  burden  in  all  Ven- 
ice. The  streets  are  mere  foot  paths,  rarely  over 
six  feet  wide  and  often  less  than  four.  They  are 
all  well  paved  with  flagstone  or  concrete,  and 
upon  them  the  houses  and  shops  open.     The  city 


88  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

is  a  perfect  labyrintli  of  these  little  streets,  and 
the  stranger  has  great  difficulty  in  finding  his 
way  about,  as  the  houses  close  in  on  him  so 
closely  that  he  can  have  no  sort  of  landmarks. 
But  some  of  these  little  four-foot  streets  are  as 
bright  and  cheerful,  and  trade  is  as  lively  upon 
them  as  on  the  best  retail  streets  in  any  of  our 
western  cities.  The  shops  get  but  little  light,  but 
they  are  shallow  and  need  but  little.  The  prin- 
cipal part  of  their  stock  occupies  the  windows. 
The  better  houses  are  constructed  on  the  oriental 
plan,  with  a  court-yard  in  the  center,  and  gener- 
ally with  an  imposing  arched  entrance  into  the 
court-yard,  and  an  arcade  or  colonnade  around 
the  latter.  From  this  court- yard  the  main  stair- 
case ascends,  and  upon  it  most  of  the  windows 
open.  The  exterior  is  dark  and  gloomy,  but  a 
peep  through  the  open  gateway  often  reveals  a 
paradisiacal  home. 

Fronting  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Mark  is  a  large 
open  square  about  six  hundred  feet  long  and  two 
hundred  wide,  known  as  the  Piazza.  It  is  paved 
with  marble  and  surrounded  on  three  sides  by  a 
handsome  colonnade  upon  which  all  the  principal 
stores  and  cafes  of  Venice  front.  No  street  in 
London  makes  such  a  brilliant  display  of  pretty 
things  as  is  seen  in  this  Piazza.  Books,  photo- 
graphs, pictures,  jewelry,  toys  and  confectionery 
predominate,  and  the  shop  windows  are  in  them- 


THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  MARK.  89 

selves  quite  one  of  the  sights  of  Yenice.  In  the 
evening  the  Piazza  is  brilliantly  lighted  np  and  is 
thronged  by  thousands.  In  front  of  the  cafes 
hundreds  of  chairs  are  scattered  about,  with  small 
tables  occupied  by  merry  groups  drinking  coffee 
or  eating  ice  creams.  It  is  altogether  a  novel 
and  fascinating  scene.  Prices  are  quite  reason- 
able in  St.  Mark's  Piazza. 

St.  Mark  the  Evangelist,  is  the  patron  saint  of 
Venice.  A  thousand  years  ago,  when  her  religion 
outweighed  her  commercial  acquisitiveness,  it 
was  a  penal  offense  for  any  Venetian  navigator 
to  enter  an  infidel  port.  By  stress  of  weather 
however,  a  certain  ship  was  once  forced  to  put 
into  Alexandria,  where  the  remains  of  the  saint 
then  rested  in  the  care  of  a  small  Christian 
church.  The  mariners  found  the  Christians 
greatly  alarmed  for  the  safety  of  the  precious 
relics,  as  the  reigning  pasha  had  a  mania  for 
building  palaces,  and  to  secure  material  for  them 
found  the  demolition  of  Christian  churches  a 
ready  and  convenient  method.  The  Alexandrian 
Christians  did  not  care  to  have  poor  St.  Mark  left 
out  in  the  cold,  so  arranged  with  the  Venetians 
to  transfer  the  body  to  the  more  Christian  city  of 
the  Adriatic.  The  sailors  were  glad  enough  of 
the  commission,  for  by  the  sacred  treasure  they 
brought  home  they  hoped  to  gain  immunity  for 
their  breach  of    law.     The  Venetians    were    of 


90  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

course  delighted  with  their  acquisition,  and  at 
once  prepared  a  fine  church  for  the  reception  of 
the  precious  relic. 

Some  time  later  there  was  a  riot  in  Venice  over 
some  little  political  matter,  and  the  mob  set  fire 
to  the  Doge's  palace,  which  adjoined  the  church 
of  St.  Mark.  The  latter  was  consequently  burned 
to  the  ground,  with  all  its  contents.  Then  a  new 
church  was  determined  on,  and  one  which  should 
correspond  in  grandeur  with  the  wealth  and 
greatness  of  the  city  at  that  time.  It  was  begun 
in  976,  and  took  nearly  a  century  to  complete. 
Meanwhile  the  Venetians  sailed  to  all  countries, 
and  the  shipmasters  vied  with  each  other  in 
bringing  home  the  richest  contributions  for  the 
new  St.  Mark's.  The  rarest  marble  and  alabaster, 
and  antique  sculpture  despoiled  from  many  a 
heathen  temple,  found  its  way  into  the  stock 
heap,  and  skillfully  did  the  architects  make  all 
contribute  to  the  beauty  of  the  edifice.  The 
church  is  hence  a  medley  of  rich  materials  more 
or  less  artistically  disposed.  When  completed,  a 
tomb  was  provided  under  the  high  altar  for  the 
patron  saint,  great  faith  being  felt  that  his 
remains  would  yet  be  restored.  But  the  tomb 
was  never  occupied.  We  looked  into  it.  By  a 
miracle  however,  the  saint's  relics  were  still  pre- 
served to  the  church.  On  the  occasion  of  some 
great  festival — ^perhaps  the  consecration  of  the 


ST.  MARK'S.  91 

building— as  a  procession  was  passing  up  the 
broad  nave,  suddenly  an  explosion  occurred  in 
one  of  the  main  piers,  and  there  exposed  to  view 
lay  the  body  of  St.  Mark.  It  was  then  thought 
best,  to  prevent  the  possibility  of  its  ever  being 
stolen  or  again  lost,  that  it  should  be  deposited 
in  some  secret  receptacle,  and  accordingly  the 
officers  of  the  church  proceeded  to  hide  it,  and  to 
this  day  no  man  knows  the  part  of  the  building 
where  the  sacred  deposit  was  made.  Such  is  the 
story  of  St.  Mark's  final  burial. 

The  church  is  built  of  brick  in  the  form  of  a 
Greek  cross,  with  domes  over  the  intersection  and 
each  arm  of  the  cross — five  in  all.  Both  exterior 
and  interior  are  completely  encased  with  various 
colored  marbles  and  bright  mosaics.  The  latter 
alone  cover  a  space  of  forty-five  thousand  eight 
hundred  square  feet,  and  are  composed  of  small 
pieces  of  colored  stone,  so  set  in  cement  as  to 
form  pictures  which  from  a  short  distance  can- 
not be  distinguished  from  rich  frescoes.  The 
ground  work  is  in  all  cases  gilt,  and  the  pictures 
are  usually  representations  of  bible  subjects  with 
Latin  inscriptions  explaining  them,  the  inscrip- 
tions likewise  being  of  mosaic  work.  The  ceiling 
of  the  main  porch  in  front  of  the  cathedral  we 
found  some  amusement  in  studying  out.  We 
found  it  to  illustrate  in  a  long  series  of  large  and 
brilliant  pictures,  the  creation  of  the  world,  the 


92  FIYE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

fall  of  man,  the  death  of  Abel,  the  flood,  the  confu- 
sion of  tongues,  and  other  events  in  old  testament 
history — all  most  expressive,  and  as  bright  and 
perfect  as  when  first  produced  eight  or  nine  cen- 
turies ago.  The  floor  throughout  is  of  great  vari- 
eties of  marble  arranged  in  hundreds  of  different 
patterns,  and  is  of  itself  quite  a  study.  There  is 
scarcely  a  particle  of  wood  work  to  be  seen  in  the 
entire  church,  nor  a  square  yard  of  fresco — all 
marble  and  mosaic.  When  new,  it  must  have 
looked  very  beautiful  indeed,  but  dirt  and  decay 
have  given  it  a  subdued,  not  to  say  dingy,  look. 
The  different  parts  of  the  building  have  settled 
unequally,  and,  while  too  massive  to  be  in  any 
sense  ruinous,  it  is  sadly  out  of  shape,  the  floor 
in  particular  resembling  the  surface  of  a  river 
just  after  a  large  steamer  has  passed.  They  are 
now  at  work  restoring  the  edifice,  and  have 
already  made  considerable  progress  with  the 
work. 

St.  Mark's  is  less  wonderful  for  its  size  (two 
hundred  and  ten  by  two  hundred  and  fifty -eight 
feet,  inside  measurement),  and  its  architectural 
beauty,  than  for  the  costly  material  of  v/hicli  it  is 
constructed.  It  suggests  a  plain  woman  over- 
loaded with  rich  dress.  It  is  of  course  well  worth 
seeing,  and  one  could  even  spend  days  in  the 
study  of  it,  but  its  merit  from  an  artistic  stand- 
point is  open  to  discussion. 


ST.  MARK'S  CAMPANILE.  93 

The  Campanile,  or  bell-tower,  as  is  tlie  custom 
in  Italy,  stands  detached  from  the  chnrch.  It  is 
three  hundred  and  twenty-two  feet  high,  and  was 
begun  in  the  year  911,  but  not  completed  till  1591. 
To  this  day  it  has  never  been  veneered  with  mar- 
ble, as  was  undoubtedly  the  intention  originally. 
It  is  a  fine  piece  of  masonry,  constructed  of  bricks 
each  twelve  or  fourteen  inches  long  and  six  wide. 
It  is  ascended,  not  by  steps,  but  by  a  series  of 
inclined  planes  extending  around  its  inner  sur- 
face. The  summit  commands  a  fine  bird's-eye 
view  of  Venice,  with  the  Adriatic  sea  stretching 
away  to  the  east  and  south,  the  snow-covered 
Alps  in  the  north-west,  the  Apennines  in  the  south- 
west, and  the  lagoon,  which  separates  Venice  from 
the  main  land,  in  the  immediate  fore-ground. 

The  churches  of  Venice  are  mostly  large  and 
pretentious,  and  well  stocked  with  paintings  by 
the  Venetian  masters.  It  is  unnecessary  to  enu- 
merate them.  One  thing  particularly  worth  men- 
tioning is  the  beautiful  wood  carving  with  which 
the  stalls  of  the  choir  of  St.  Giorgio  Maggiore  are 
ornamented.  In  a  series  of  forty-eight  panels  the 
history  of  St.  Benedict  is  illustrated  in  rich  alto- 
relievo  carvings,  very  beautiful  and  interesting. 

To  see  the  churches  we  took  a  gondola.  A 
franc  an  hour  (20  cents  of  our  money),  with  a 
small  gratuity  to  the  boatman,  is  the  tariff  for 
gondola  service.     Cheap  enough,  is  it  not  ? 


94  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

The  Academy  of  Fine  Arts  of  Venice  contains 
a  great  number  of  pictures,  but  almost  exclusively 
tlie  works  of  Venetian  masters — Titian,  Paul  Ver- 
onese, Tintoretto,  Bonifacio,  and  others.  To  the 
uncultured  eye,  none  of  the  masters  of  the  Vene- 
tian school,  even  Titian,  accounted  one  of  the  five 
greatest  of  the  Italian  painters,  possesses  very 
great  attractions. 

In  the  palmy  days  of  Venice  it  was  governed 
by  an  aristocracy  of  nobles,  and  these  elected 
from  among  themselves  a  chief  executive  who 
was  styled  Duke  or  Doge.  His  official  residence, 
with  the  halls  in  which  the  oligarchy  held  its 
elections  and  other  meetings,  adjoins  St.  Mark's 
church,  and  is  known  as  the  Palace  of  the  Doges, 
or  the  Ducal  Palace.  It  forms  three  sides  of  a 
quadrangle,  the  church  filling  the  fourth.  The 
building  is  now  used  chiefly  as  a  library  and 
gallery  of  art.  Some  of  the  rooms  have  been 
restored  in  recent  times,  and  are  very  handsome. 
A  great  number  of  the  works  of  the  great  Vene- 
tian artists,  Titian,  Paul  Veronese,  and  Tinto- 
retto, are  found  in  them.  In  the  rear  of  the 
church  and  ducal  palace  is  a  small  canal,  and 
crossing  this  canal,  connecting  the  second  story 
of  the  palace  with  the  corresponding  floor  of  a 
building  on  the  other  side,  is  a  covered  stone 
bridge,  popularly  known  as  the  Bridge  of  Sighs. 
It  was  across  this  bridge  that  in  the  tyrannical 


THE  RIALTO.  95 

days  of  the  oligarcliy  those  who  had  given  offense 
to  the  all-powerful  nobles  were  led  from  trial  in 
the  palace  to  execution  in  the  prison  across  the 
canal;  whence  the  name  of  the  structure.  Another 
notable  bridge  is  the  Rialto,  a  stone  structure 
spanning  the  grand  canal  about  .midway  its 
length.  It  is  a  single  arch  with  a  span  of  sev- 
enty-four feet.  It  was  built  in  1588,  and  is  said 
to  rest  on  twelve  thousand  j)iles. 

We  bid  good  bye  to  Venice  with  regret,  for  it 
is  a  cheerful  place,  notwithstanding  its  gloomy 
first  reception,  and  the  Venetians  know  how  to 
attract  and  entertain  us  foreigners.  Venice  is 
particularly  a  favorite  with  the  English,  and  at 
the  table  d'hote  each  day  English  was  almost  the 
sole  language  of  conversation. 


A  VENETIAN  GONDOLA. 


CHAPTER  XT. 

BOLOGNA  AND  ITS  LEANING  TOWERS— OVER  THE  APENNINES. 

ok  PLEASANT  five  hours'  ride  from  Venice 
ffi  through  a  somewhat  fiat  but  higlily  culti- 
^1 V  vated  and  fruitful  country  brings  us  to  the 
ancient  city  of  Bologna,  pronounced  Bolognya 
by  the* natives.  It  is  situated  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  foot-hills  of  the  Apennine  range,  has 
about  the  same  population  as  Detroit,  Rochester 
or  Milwaukee,  and  is  rich,  and  substantially  built. 
Its  principal  church  of  which  the  nave  only  was 
ever  finished,  was  begun  on  a  stupendous  scale  in 
1390,  in  rivalry  with  the  immense  cathedral  at 
Florence.  But  the  buildings  by  which  Bologna 
is  best  known  are  its  two  leaning  towers.  They 
stand  side  by  side  in  a  small  open  space  at  the 
junction  of  several  streets  and  lean  in  contrary 
directions.  The  one  is  three  hundred  and  twenty 
feet  high  and  leans  four  feet  from  the  perpendic- 
ular, the  other  is  one  hundred  and  sixty-three 
feet  and  leans  ten  feet.  Both  were  erected  seven 
hundred  and  seventy  years  ago.  By  the  way, 
almost  all  towers  and  even  tall  chimneys  seem  in 
Italy  to  have  a  penchant  for  leaning.     Whether 

96 


THE  LEANING  TOWERS  OF  BOLOGNA,  ITALY. 


t       •    • 


BOLOGNA.  97 

it  is  from  a  peculiarity  of  the  soil  or  carelessness 
in  the  workmen  in  not  plumbing  them  properly 
I  cannot  say,  but  I  have  noted  a  number  of 
instances  of  more  or  less  deflection.  I  cannot 
believe  that  they  were  in  any  case  built  intention- 
ally leaning,  as  even  the  bad  architectural  taste 
of  Italy  could  never  have  perpetrated  so  mon- 
strous an  eyesore.  The  streets  of  Bologna  are 
universally  arcaded,  and  usually  in  a  very 
stately  and  substantial  manner. 

Bologna  was  once  the  center  of  a  school  of 
painting  peculiar  to  itself.  It  included  among 
its  great  masters  Domenichino,  Gruido  Reni  and 
the  brothers  Carracci.  An  academy  of  fine  arts 
is  still  maintained.  Its  gallery  is  of  course  par- 
ticularly strong  in  the  works  of  the  Bologna  mas- 
ters but  it  has  one  famous  picture  of  Raphael's — 
St.  Cecilia,  attended  by  St.  Paul,  St.  John,  Mary 
Magdalene  and  one  other  saint,  with  broken 
musical  instruments  at  her  feet  and  a  choir  of 
angels  in  the  clouds  above.  But  to  the  average 
sight-seer  the  salon  containing  the  modern  pic- 
tures which  have  won  the  first  prizes  of  the  acad- 
emy from  year  to  year  is  much  more  interesting 
and  attractive  than  any  of  the  old  masters,  even 
than  the  Raphael. 

We  happened  to  spend  Sunday  in  Bologna, 
and  before  brealvfast  I  took  a  stroll  around  the 
principal  square.     Half  the  population  seemed  to 


98  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

be  in  the  streets.  All  the  shops  were  open  and 
pedlars  thronged  the  sidewalks.  Wagons  loaded 
with  furniture  and  boxes  of  merchandise  passed 
and  repassed.  From  the  great  number  of  people 
abroad  in  holiday  attire  I  was  forcibly  reminded 
of  a  Fourth  of  July  morning  in  our  own  country. 
Comparatively  few  people  went  to  church,  and 
still  fewer  visited  the  public  picture  galleries 
which  government  had  opened  free  on  this  day 
for  their  benefit.  The  noise  and  bustle  on  the 
streets  was  far  greater  than  on  other  days.  Such 
is  an  Italian  Sunday. 

The  railroad  from  Bologna  to  Pistoja  (the  place 
where  pistols  were  first  made  and  whence  they 
derived  their  name)  lies  across  the  Apennine 
range  of  mountains.  The  latter  are  not  equal  to 
the  Alps  in  height  or  rugged  grandeur,  but  are  still 
high  enough  to  retain  considerable  snow  on  their 
summits  in  the  middle  of  May  when  in  this  warm 
climate  haymaking  is  in  progress  in  the  valleys 
below.  We  gradually  ascend  to  a  height  of  two 
thousand  feet,  following  the  valley  of  the  Keno, 
which  flows  westerly  into  the  Adriatic,  and,  hav- 
ing passed  the  summit,  descend  through  the 
valley  of  the  Ombrone,  a  tributary  of  the  Arno, 
which  latter  flows  through  Florence.  It  is  a 
most  interesting  ride.  In  a  distance  of  forty-four 
miles  we  pass  through  no  fewer  than  forty-four 
tunnels — one  for   each  mile — and  as  they  must 


OYER  THE  APENNINES.  99 

€ertainly  average  half  a  mile  each,  it  is  pretty 
safe  to  assert  that  on  this  portion  of  the  road 
we  are  underground  fully  half  the  time.  Th6 
remainder  we  are  winding  around  mountain 
ledges  and  crossing  tall  viaducts,  hundreds  of 
feet  above  the  picturesque  valleys  and  gurgling 
streams  beneath  us.  The  ever-changing  pano- 
rama between  the  tunnels  is  most  enchanting. 
The  tunnels  are  monotonous,  but  not  disagreeable 
like  our  American  tunnels,  where  we  are  stifled 
with  smoke.  At  one  point  we  catch  a  glimpse  of 
a  broad  plain,  with  a  walled  city  with  its  domes 
and  campaniles  set  in  the  midst,  and  with  smaller 
villages  scattered  over  it.  Such  a  bird's-eye  view 
of  a  wide  extent  of  country  is  rarely  enjoyed. 
We  are  looking  down  upon  Pistoja  and  the  fer- 
tile plains  of  Tuscany  from  an  elevation  of 
between  fifteen  hundred  and  two  thousand  feet. 
Half  an  hour  later  we  reach  the  station  at  Pistoja, 
and  from  thence  on  to  Florence  our  journey  is 
through  the  hot  but  fertile  plain. 


CHAPTER  Xn. 

FLORENCE— THE    PROTESTANT     CEMETERY— THE     CATHEDRAL— 
THE  ART  GALLERIES-FLORENTINE  MOSAICS. 

LORENCE,  the  city  of  flowers,  is  beauti- 
fully situated  in  the  lovely  valley  of  the 
Arno,  with  the  snow-capped  Apennines 
skirting  the  landscape  to  the  northwest.  It  is 
most  interesting  for  its  historic  associations  ;  as 
the  home  of  the  famous  Medici  family,  which 
made  it  the  great  center  of  literature,  art  and 
civilization,  and  which  gave  the  church  her  most 
brilliant  pope  in  Leo  X.,  and  to  France  two  of  its 
best  known  queens;  but  is  above  all  famous  as 
having  no  superior  in  the  world  either  in  its  col- 
lection of  art  treasures  or  in  the  quantity  and 
beauty  of  the  art  productions  which  it  still  fur- 
nishes to  us  outside  barbarians.  Florence  is  a 
charming  place ;  and  halting  here  within  a  few 
minutes  walk  of  its  noble  cathedral,  of  the  home 
of  Michel  Angelo,  of  the  original  Madonna  della 
Sedia  (Madonna  of  the  chair),  Raphael's  most 
popular  painting,  of  the  famous  Venus  de  Medici, 
of  Savonarola's  cell  and  the  place  where  he  was 
burned  at  the  stake,  and  of  the  old  monastery 
where  the  monk  Fra  Angelico  lived  and  painted 

100 


Ms  exquisite  delineations  of  holy  men  and  women, 
one  has  no  care  to  see  either  Rome,  Naples  or 
Paris.  Florence  in  itself  is  all-satisfying.  Weeks 
could  be  spent  there  without  satiety. 

Upon  arriving  our  first  step  was  to  take  a 
drive  about  the  city  and  learn  its  geography,  and 
so  it  haj)pened  that  one  of  the  first  things  we 
visited  was  the  noted  Protestant  Cemetery,  where 
so  many  well  known  foreigners,  including  the 
esteemed  poet,  Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning  and 
our  own  Rev.  Theodore  Parker,  lie  buried. 
Indeed  it  is  filled  almost  exclusively  with  Eng- 
lish and  American  graves;  and  the  inscriptions, 
mentioning  New  York,  Philadelphia  and  a  score 
of  other  places  in  our  own  country,  make  one  feel 
quite  as  if  he  were  on  American  soil.  The  ceme- 
tery evidently  at  one  time  was  situated  just  out- 
side the  walls  of  the  city,  but  within  the  past  few 
years  all  the  fortifications  have  been  leveled,  and 
on  the  ground  occupied  by  them,  broad  and  beau- 
tifully ornamented  boulevards  have  been  con- 
structed. And  so  it  happens  that  the  cemetery 
has  become  a  little  oval  park  in  the  center  of  one 
of  the  finest  boulevards.  It  cannot  be  more  than 
an  acre  in  extent.  It  rises  in  the  center  to  a 
height  of  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  above  the  road- 
way and  rounds  off  to  the  fence  on  every  side 
except  the  north,  where  it  terminates  with  an 
abrupt    wall.       It    is    surrounded    by  an    iron 


Ifi'^  VS'  }   *[  fFiyjE/^MOTTHS  ABROAD. 

fence,  and  is  nicely  kept.  We  had  no  trouble  in 
finding  the  tomb  of  Mrs.  Browning,  although  it 
bears  no  inscription  except  the  simple  initials 
'*E.  B.  B.— ob.  1861."  It  consists  of  a  marble 
sarcophagus  supported  by  six  short  columns. 
Theodore  Parker's  we  were  unable  to  find  with- 
out inquiry.  It  is  a  plain  grave  with  an  old- 
fashioned  dark-colored  headstone  bearing  the 
inscription,  "Theodore  Parker.  Born  at  Lex- 
ington, Massachusetts,  United  States  of  America, 
Aug.  24,  1810.  Died  at  Florence,  May  10,  1860." 
Our  first  walk  is  directed  to  the  Duomo,  or 
cathedral,  a  structure  of  great  historic  and  archi- 
tectural interest.  It  was  projected  at  a  period  of 
great  ambition  in  the  building  line,  when  the 
various  cities  of  Italy  vied  with  each  other  to 
produce  the  church  of  greatest  immensity.  It 
was  begun  from  the  plans  of  Arnolfo  di  Cambio 
in  1294,  and  was  nearly  one  hundred  and  sixty 
years  building.  Arnolfo  dying  in  1310,  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Giotto,  the  famous  pupil  of  Cimabue 
the  father  of  Italian  painting.  (Painters  and 
sculptors  were  also  the  architects  of  those  days.) 
Three  or  four  generations  of  architects  and  build- 
ers passed  away,  each  more  or  less  changing  the 
plans,  and  more  or  less  destroying  what  its  prede- 
cessors had  built  up,  until  at  last  the  structure 
was  ready  for  the  dome.  This  was  in  1418.  No 
such  large  dome  had  up  to  that  time  ever  been 


THE  DUOMO.  103 

attempted,  and  now  the  question  arose  how  was 
it  to  be  built?  Architects  from  all  over  the 
known  world  were  invited  to  send  in  plans,  and 
serious  controversies  arose  as  to  its  being  at  all 
practicable.  One  difficulty  that  suggested  itself 
was  the  construction  of  a  centering  to  support  the 
stone  work  while  in  progress,  it  being  argued  that 
there  was  not  timber  enough  in  all  Italy  for  the 
purpose.  Then  some  wise  head  proposed  filling 
up  the  interior  of  the  church  with  earth  and 
using  a  mound  of  this  material  as  a  center.  In 
order  to  facilitate  the  removal  of  the  earth  after- 
wards, he  proposed  scattering  money  through  it, 
when  he  thought  the  poor  of  the  city  would  be- 
glad  enough  to  cart  away  the  dirt  for  the  chance 
of  finding  the  coin.  At  last  a  really  scientific 
architect  turned  up  in  the  person  of  Filippo  Bru- 
nelleschi,  who  insisted  that  it  was  possible  to  con- 
struct the  dome  without  any  centering.  He  was 
at  first  hooted  as  a  lunatic,  but  finally  got  the 
ear  of  the  building  committee  and  secured  the 
adoption  of  his  plans  with  the  appointment  of 
supervising  architect.  He  did  not  live  to  see  the 
work  completed,  but  his  plans  were  fully  carried 
out,  and  his  fame  as  one  of  the  greatest  architects 
of  the  middle  ages  fairly  established.  Even 
when  the  church  was  considered  complete  and 
was  dedicated,  the  west  front  or  facade,  was  left 
a  mere  rough  brick  wall,  the  intention  being  to 


104  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

encase  it  with  marble  at  some  future  time  when  it 
might  be  convenient  to  do  so.  But  thus  it 
remained  for  four  hundred  years,  or  down 
to  1860,  when  the  work  of  completing  it  was 
undertaken.  It  is  still  in  progress.  The  entire 
building  is  of  brick,  faced  with  black  and  white 
marble  in  panels.  While  very  rich  and  beautiful, 
it  lacks  the  dignity  of  churches  built  of  plain 
stone.  One  is  reminded  of  inlaid  work  of  ivory 
and  ebony,  and  its  application  to  so  immense  a 
structure  has  a  belittling  effect,  and  destroys  very 
largely  the  sense  of  imposing  grandeur.  The 
interior  is  very  disappointing.  Even  its  immen- 
sity fails  to  imi^ress,  so  well,  or  so  badly,  is  every- 
thing proportioned.  One  cannot  realize  that  the 
dome  is  three  hundred  feet  high,  or  that  the 
rotunda  and  dome  of  the  capitol  at  Washington 
could  stand  under  it.  The  walls  are  plain,  and 
in  great  part  of  a  gloomy  brown  color  ;  the  build- 
ing is  insufficiently  lighted,  and  is  remarkably 
bare  of  monuments.  It  has  nothing,  therefore, 
but  its  size,  to  interest  the  visitor. 

Much  more  interesting  every  way  is  the  old 
church  of  St.  Croce,  begun  at  the  skme  time  and 
by  the  same  architect,  and  nearly  as  large  as  the 
cathedral,  but  much  less  pretentious.  It  is  very 
rich  in  the  tombs  of  Italy's  great  men,  including 
those  of  Michel  Angelo,  Galileo,  Macchiavelli  the 
statesman,  Raphael  Morghen  the  eminent  engra- 


CHURCHES  OF  FLORENCE.         105 

ver,  Cherubini  the  musical  composer,  and  many 
others  scarcel}^  less  well  known.  There  is  also  a 
fine  monument  to  Dante,  though  his  remains  are 
buried  at  Ravenna.  In  its  magnificent  sepulchres 
of  departed  greatness  it  is  the  Westminster 
Abbey  of  Italy.  Among  the  other  principal 
churches  of  Florence  are  the  church  of  St. 
Lorenzo,  built  at  the  expense  of  a  few  wealthy 
Florentines  by  Brunelleschi,  and  finished  by 
Michel  Angelo,  and  which  contains  the  tombs  of 
the  Medicis ;  that  of  St.  Maria  Novello,  and  the 
Baptistery.  The  latter  stands  opposite  the  cath- 
edral, and  is  an  octagonal  structure  surmounted 
by  a  dome  ninety  feet  in  diameter.  It  is  chiefly 
remarkable  for  its  three  bronze  doors,  constructed 
between  four  and  five  hundred  years  ago,  and  cov- 
ered with  reliefs  representing  bible  scenes.  They 
were  the  work  of  Lorenzo  Ghiberti,  whose  name 
is  immortalized  mainly  through  them,  and  they 
served  in  some  degree  as  models  fc>r  the  bronze 
doors  of  our  own  capitol  at  Washington. 

The  Campanile,  or  bell  tower  of  the  cathedral, 
stands,  as  is  the  custom  in  Italy,  a  little  apart 
from  the  church  itself.  It  is  a  handsome  square 
tower  two  hundred  and  ninety-two  feet  high,  of 
black  and  white  marbles,  designed  by  Giotto  and 
completed  in  1336.  It  has  recently  been  restored, 
and  has  quite  a  new  and  fresh  look. 

On  the  principal  public  square  of  Florence  is 


106 


FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 


the  fortress-looking  Palazzo  Yeccliio  with  its  tall 
tower.  It  was  originally  the  seat  of  government 
of  the  republic,  and  was  later  the  residence  of 
Cosimo  I.  It  is  now  the  city  hall  of  Florence. 
We  walked  through  the  principal  rooms,  includ- 
ing the  great  hall  where   Savonarola's    council 

was  accustomed  to  meet. 
Just  at  the  corner  of  the 
building  Savonarola  him- 
self was  burned  in  1498. 
Also  facing  this  square 
is  a  large  open  hall  or 
piazza  filled  with  sculp- 
ture, the  work  of  famous 
artists.  It  is  exposed  to 
the  street,  and  forms  a 
sort  of  loafing  place  for 
the  idle.  It  is  called  the 
Loggia  dei  Lanzi,  loggia 
being  the  Italian  for  hall 
or  gallery. 

Close  by  is  the  entrance  to  the  famous  Ufiizi 
(pronounced  ''Uffeetzy")  picture  gallery,  one  of 
the  most  extensive  in  the  world.  It  comprises 
all  the  rich  collections  of  the  Medicis,  with  addi- 
tions made  by  the  later  dukes  of  Tuscany.  It 
occupies  the  upper  story  of  three  sides  of  a 
long  court.  There  are  two  parallel  corridors, 
each  about  six  hundred  feet  long,  and  a  shorter 


THE  PALAZZO  VECCHIO. 


THE  UFFIZI  GALLERY.  107 

one  connecting  them  at  the  end,  with  some 
twenty-five  or  thirty  rooms  opening  from  them. 
The  corridors  and  rooms  are  hung  with  pic- 
tures and  filled  with  antique  statuary.  The* 
most  precious  pictures  and  statues  are  collected 
in  an  octagonal  room  called  the  Tribune.  Here 
is  the  famous  Venus  de  Medici,  believed  to  be 
the  work  of  a  Greek  artist  about  one  hundred 
years  before  Christ,  and  discovered,  some  three 
hundred  years  ago,  in  the  ruins  of  Hadrian's 
palace  at  Tivoli.  Among  the  pictures  in  this 
room  are  Raphael's  Madonna  of  the  Goldfinch, 
in  which  the  infant  John  is  represented  pre- 
senting a  bird  to  the  babe  Jesus ;  also  his  well 
known  picture  of  the  young  St.  John.  In  other 
rooms  the  different  schools  of  painting,  as  the 
Tuscan,  the  French,  the  Dutch,  the  German,  etc., 
are  kept  distinct.  One  room  is  devoted  to  gems 
of  wonderful  size  and  most  exquisite  workman- 
ship. Another  contains  only  cameos  and  intag- 
lios of  rare  artistic  value.  Still  another  is  filled 
with  ancient  bronzes,  and  another  with  ancient 
inscriptions  carved  in  stone,  the  records  of  an  age 
long  anterior  to  the  Christian  era.  One  room 
contains  hundreds  of  portraits  of  eminent  paint- 
ers, ancient  and  modern,  mostly  painted  by  them- 
selves. It  is  a  very  interesting  collection.  But 
few  rooms  possess  more  intense  interest  than  the 
salon  of  Niobe. 


108  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

In  Grecian  mythology  IST iobe  was  the  mother  of 
six  sons  and  as  many  daughters,  and,  proud  of 
her  offspring,  she  snubbed  Latona,  one  of  the 
wives  of  Jupiter,  who  had  only  two,  Apollo  and 
Diana,  and  officiously  interfered  with  their  wor- 
ship as  divinities.  Thereupon  Apollo  and  Diana 
revenged  themselves  upon  the  silly  mother  by 
shooting  all  her  children  with  their  arrows. 
Diana,  as  the  goddess  of  hunting,  was  of  course 
a  good  markswoman,  and  so  the  whole  dozen 
were  slaughtered.  Niobe's  grief  was  so  exces- 
sive that  the  gods,  out  of  pity,  turned  her  into 
stone,  but  even  that  failed  to  mitigate  her  terrible 
sorrow.  The  scene  of  the  slaughter  was  portrayed 
in  stone  by  some  ancient  Greek  sculptpr,  prob- 
ably Praxiteles,  and  the  group  was  discovered  in 
Rome  in  1583,  buried  in  the  earth,  and  more  or 
less  broken.  They  were  restored,  and  now  occupy 
the  room  I  am  speaking  of.  Never  have  I  seen 
anything  more  striking.  Niobe's  face  is  a  pic- 
ture of  the  deepest  grief,  while  the  attitudes  of 
her  children  endeavoring  to  shield  themselves 
from  the  arrows  of  their  assailants  are,  perhaps, 
the  most  wonderful  achievements  of  the  sculp- 
tor's art  the  world  has  ever  seen. 

Across  the  river,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  or  more 
from  the  iJffizi  gallery,  is  the  Pitti  palace,  so 
named  from  the  family  who  built  it  in  1440. 
It  is  now  one  of  the  royal  palaces  of  Italy.     It 


THE  PONTE  VECCHIO. 


109 


also  contains  a  very  extensive  gallery  of  rare  pic- 
tures, and  this  portion  of  tlie  palace  is  connected 
with  the  Uffizi  gallery  by  long  passages,  crossing 
the  Arno  by  one  of  the  bridges.  We  pass  from 
the  Uffizi  gallery  down  a  flight  of  stairs,  through 


n 


\wml/ii 


j^issiiaaapr 


THE  PONTK  VKCCmO. 


a  long  zigzag  passage  hung  with  old  and  rare 
engravings  (  "prints"  is  the  proper  word),  then 
through  a  long  corridor  filled  with  drawings, 
many  of  them  by  the  old  masters.  Looking  out 
through  a  window  we  find  we  are  now  over  the 
river.  A  narrow,  dark,  crooked  passage  follows, 
in  which  some  less-cared-for  pictures  are  hung, 
and  then  begin  the  tapestries.     These  hang  from 


110  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

the  ceiling  to  the  floor  on  both  sides  of  ns,  and, 
though  some  centuries  old,  are  quite  brilliant  in 
their  colors,  and  as  admirably  shaded  as  if  done 
with  the  artist's  brush.  They  are  exclusively 
needle  work,  and  depict,  often  in  life  size,  bible 
incidents,  battle  scenes,  and  other  like  subjects. 
Then  we  ascend  more  stairs,  and  find  ourselves  at 
last  in  the  six  salons  of  the  Pitti  gallery. 

Among  the  more  important  pictures  here  are 
Kaphael's  well-known  Madonna  of  the  Chair,  his 
portrait  of  Pope  Julius  II.,  and  his  vision  of  Eze- 
Mel,  besides  which  there  are  some  five  hundred 
other  pictures  embracing  some  of  the  best  works 
of  almost  all  the  great  masters.  In  fact  this  gal- 
lery is  reputed  the  best  in  Italy  in  the  fewness  of 
its  works  of  subordinate  merit.  Unfortunately 
however  the  rooms  were  not  originally  designed 
for  picture  galleries,  and  are  not  properly  lighted, 
so  the  pictures  do  not  show  to  the  best  advantage 
possible. 

We  pay  a  franc  or  lira  each  to  enter  either  gal- 
lery, and  can  go  from  one  to  the  other  at  pleas- 
ure, but  on  Sundays  and  Thursdays  both  galler- 
ies are  open  free. 

Back  of  the  Pitti  palace  are  the  extensive 
Boboli  gardens,  open  to  the  public  on  certain 
days,  and  commanding  a  magnificent  view  of  the 
city,  of  the  plains  beyond,  and  of  the  Apennine 
range  in  the  background. 


FLORENTINE  ART.  Ill 

Besides  the  Uffizi  and  Pitti  galleries,  there  is  a 
valuable  collection  of  pictures  in  the  Academy  of 
Fine  Arts.  In  all  the  galleries  there  are  con- 
stantly a  great  number  of  painters  engaged  in 
copying.  Many  are  ladies.  Their  works,  when 
finished,  are  sold  to  dealers,  or  left  for  sale  on 
commission,  and  thus  pictul'es  can  be  bought  in 
large  numbers  in  Florence,  and  at  reasonable 
rates.  Copies  of  old  masters  range  in  price  from 
twenty  to  two  hundred  dollars,  according  to  the 
size  and  quality  of  work.  Carved  frames  are 
also  a  specialty  of  Florence,  and  are  made  in 
great  variety. 

But  Florence's  great  specialty  is  her  mosaics. 
Different  colored  marbles  are  cut  up  and  so  skill- 
fully joined  as  to  form  in  some  cases  very  life-like 
pictures.  They  are  made  of  all  sizes,  from  a 
sleeve  button  up  to  a  large  table  top,  and  range  in 
prices  from  a  dollar  or  two  up  to  several  hundred. 
Jewelry,  paper  weights,  pictures  for  easels,  and 
table  tops,  are  the  forms  Florentine  mosaics  are 
most  frequently  found  in.  They  are  generally 
inlaid  on  a  black  marble  ground,  but  sometimes 
the  whole  surface  is  occupied  by  the  picture. 
The  art  has  been  practiced  at  Florence  for  over 
three  hundred  years. 


CHAPTEH  XIII. 

THE  GREAT  HISTORIC  CHARACTERS  OF  FLORENCE— THE  MEDICI 
FAMILY— LORENZO  THE  MAGNIFICENT-POPE  LEO  X-CATH- 
ARINE  AND  MARIE  DE  MEDICI— SAVONAROLA. 

OMETHINGr  over  five  hundred  years  ago 
tliere  lived  in  Florence  a  worthy  old  gentle- 
man named  Salvestro  Medici  (pronounced 
Medeche — ^three  syllables,  with  the  accent  on  the 
first,  and  the  "ch"  soft),  who  had  grown  very 
rich  in  trade,  and  who,  enjoying  the  esteem  of 
his  fellow- citizens,  had  been  elected  gonfalonier 
or  chief- executive  of  the  then  republic  of  Flor- 
ence. He  had  a  son  John  (Giovanni  is  the  Italian 
for  John),  a  chip  of  the  old  block,  being  distin- 
guished for  his  commercial  enterprise  and  patriot- 
ism. John,  who  was  born  in  1360,  died  in  1428, 
leaving  a  son,  Cosimo,  who,  being  immensely 
wealthy  and  very  liberal,  likewise  enjoyed  great 
popularity.  Having  no  need  to  devote  himself 
to  business  he  went  into  politics,  and  so  managed 
matters  that  for  thirty-four  years  he  was  practi- 
cally the  sole  ruler  of  Florence.  He  looked  out 
well  for  the  public  interests,  stole  nothing  from 
the  public  treasury,  and  maintained  his  popu- 
larity to  the  last.     When  he  died  in  1464  and  at 

112 


LORENZO  THE  MAGNIFICENT.  113 

his  own  desire  was  unostentatiously  buried  in  a 
plain  grave  in  front  of  the  altar  in  the  church  of 
St.  Lorenzo,  the  senate  passed  a  resolution  styling 
him  Pater  Patrice  (the  father  of  his  country). 
The  family  was  thus  established  by  three  gen- 
erations of  energetic,  honest  and  public- spirited 
men. 

Cosimo  was  succeeded  in  his  estates  and  politi- 
cal influence  by  his  son  Peter,  who,  however,  was 
killed  in  a  popular  revolt  five  years  later,  1469. 
He  in  turn  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Lorenzo 
the  Magnificent,  who  was  bovn  in  1448  and  died 
in  1492,  the  precise  year  of  the  discovery  of  Amer- 
ica by  Columbus.  Lorenzo  inherited,  besides  a 
princely  fortune,  all  the  ability  of  his  ancestors, 
if  not  all  their  virtues.  He  was  a  man  of  culture 
and  refinement,  and  spent  liberally  of  his  fortune 
in  the  beautifying  of  Florence  and  in  the  culti- 
vation of  literature  and  the  arts.  He  ransacked 
Europe  for  books  for  his  libraries  and  pictures 
and  sculpture  for  his  galleries.  The  best  that 
was  to  be  found  anywhere  was  purchased  and 
carried  off  to  Florence.  Learned  men  and  skill- 
ful artists  were  encouraged  to  make  Florence 
their  home,  and  in  all  matters  of  civilization  and 
culture  it  became  the  metropolis  of  the  world. 
Lorenzo  lived  in  the  grandest  style  and  indulged 
in  the  most  munificent  hospitality.  No  prince  in 
Christendom  was  suiTounded  by  such  learning 


114 


FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 


and  elegance.  While  nominally  still  a  republic, 
Lorenzo  was  practically  autocrat  of  Florence  for 
twenty-three  years,  and  this  was  emphatically  its 
golden  age. 


LORENZO  THE  MAGNIFICENT. 


POPE  LEO  X.  115 

Lorenzo  left  three  sons — Peter,  John  and  Wil- 
liam. As  they  could  not  all  succeed  to  the  poli- 
tical power  of  the  father,  John  was  trained  f or- 
the  church,  and,  animated  by  the  Medici  ambi- 
tion and  backed  by  the  family  influence,  he  in 
due  time  reached  the  highest  position  in  the 
ecclesiastical  hierarchy,  and  in  1513  was  elected 
pope  under  the  title  of  Leo  X.  As  pope,  Leo 
fully  maintained  the  reputation  of  the  family  in 
the  brilliancy  of  his  career.  He  controlled  the 
politics  of  half  of  Europe,  elevated  his  relatives 
to  the  highest  positions,  gave  a  new  prosperity  to 
Rome,  gathered  there  men  of  fame  and  objects  of 
art  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  and  made  the  city 
as  gay  and  brilliant  as  it  had  ever  been  in  the 
palmiest  days  of  the  emperors.  Of  course  true 
Tital  religion  did  not  thrive  amid  so  much  tem- 
poral prosperity,  and  it  was  the  profligacy  of 
Rome  and  its  priesthood  at  this  time  that  attract- 
ed the  attention  of  Martin  Luther  and  caused 
that  great  split  in  the  christian  church  which, 
notwithstanding  the  reforms  that  came  in  due 
time  in  the  Roman  branch,  exists  to  this  day 
between  the  Roman  Catholic  and  Protestant 
bodies.  Leo's  chief  energies  were  directed  to  the 
building  of  St.  Peter's  church,  which  he  deter- 
mined should  be  the  largest  and  most  splendid 
church  in  the  world.  The  famous  painter 
Raphael  was  one  of  Leo's  proteges,  and  lent  his 


116  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

talents  to  the  adornment  of  Ms  patron' s  churches 
and  palaces.  Christian  Rome  was  then  at  the 
zenith  of  its  power  and  splendor.  Leo  was  born 
in  1475  and  died  in  1521. 

Meanwhile  his  father  had  died,  and  his  brother 
Peter  had  succeeded  to  the  government  of  Flor- 
ence, but  had  immediately  been  deposed  by  the 
people,  an  outburst  of  republican  spirit  having 
followed  upon  Lorenzo's  death.  It  was  about 
twenty  years  before  the  family  were  restored  to 
power,  and  it  was  during  this  interval  that  Savon- 
arola founded  in  Florence  his  theistic  republic,  of 
which  I  shall  speak  presently.  Then  Peter' s  son, 
Lorenzo  II.,  resumed  the  government  with  the 
title  of  Duke.  It  was  his  daughter,  Catharine  de 
Medici,  who  married  Henry  II.  of  France,  and 
upon  her  husband's  death  in  1559  governed 
France  as  regent.  She  is  notorious  in  history  as 
the  promoter  of  the  horrible  massacre  of  St.  Bar- 
tholomew in  1572,  whereby  she  hoped  to  wipe 
out  protestantism  from  her  realm.  She  was  a 
woman  of  great  ability,  a  lover  and  patron  of  the 
arts,  and  she  it  was  who  built  the  palace  of  the 
Tuilleries  in  Paris,  which  was  destroyed  by  the 
commune  in  1871.     She  died  in  1589. 

Florence  continued  to  be  governed  by  the 
Medici  family  until  1737 — a  period  in  all  of  nearly 
three  hundred  and  fifty  years.  After  Lorenzo 
the   Magnificent  the    greatest    of    the  line  was 


MARIE  DE  MEDICI.  117 

Cosimo  I.,  1513-1574,  who  mucli  resembled  Mm  in 
his  patronage  of  art  and  learning.  Pope  Clem- 
ent VII.,  elected  in  1523,  was  also  a  Medici,  being 
a  cousin  of  Leo  X.  Besides  thus  contributing  to 
the  church  two  popes,  the  Medicis  furnished  two 
queens  to  France.  Catharine  has  already  been 
mentioned.  The  other  was  Marie  de  Medici, 
who  was  born  in  Florence  in  1573,  and  married 
Henry  of  Navarre,  the  famous  champion  of  the 
French  protestants.  He  assumed  the  throne  of 
France  as  Henry  lY.  in  1600,  and  became  the 
founder  of  the  famous  Bourbon  family  as  kings 
of  France.  Marie  led  an  unhappy  life  with  her 
husband  and  was  probably  accessory  to  his  mur- 
der by  Eavaillac  in  1610.  She  succeeded  as 
regent.  The  nation  grew  restive  under  Italian 
rule.  Cardinal  Richelieu  was  constantly  a  thorn 
in  her  side,  and  in  1631  she  was  deposed,  and 
eleven  years  later  died  in  great  poverty  at 
Cologne.  She,  too,  was. a  famous  patron  of  art, 
and  was  the  builder  of  the  palace  of  the  Luxem- 
bourg in  Paris. 

Thus,  altogether,  few  families  have  made  a  more 
notable  record  in  history  than  these  Florentine 
Medicis.  We  visited  the  Palazzo  Riccardi,  an 
immense,  massive  and  imposing  palace,  the  home 
of  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent  and  birthplace  of  Leo 
X.,  and  which  contains  highly  esteemed  frescoes 
painted  over  four  centuries  ago.     In  one  room 


118  FIVE  MOKTHS  ABROAD. 

one  of  these  ceiling  paintings  represents  a  man 
plowing  with  a  yoke  of  oxen.  Standing  opposite 
to  it  the  oxen  appeared  to  be  going  directly  from 
you.  Stand  at  one  end  of  the  room  and  the  oxen 
are  going  at  right  angles  to  their  former  course, 
and  seen  from  the  other  end  are  going  in  the 
opposite  direction.  The  illusion  is  very  curious. 
On  the  same  street  with  the  Palazzo  Kiccardi  is 
the  once  famous,  but  now  suppressed,  monastery 
of  St.  Mark,  the  home  of  the  eminent  painters 
Fra  Angelico  and  Fra  Bartolommeo,  of  St. 
Anthony  and  of  Jerome  Savonarola,  who  was 
also  prior  of  the  institution.  Savonarola  was 
born  in  1452,  became  a  monk  at  twenty-two,  and 
at  thirty-seven  had  become  renowned  for  his 
piety  and  the  earnestness  of  his  preaching.  Peo- 
ple flocked  from  all  quarters  to  hear  him.  From 
attacking  the  sins  of  the  laity  he  proceeded  to 
assail  the  low  state  of  religion  in  the  priesthood, 
and,  led  on  by  the  attention  given  to  his  dis- 
courses, ultimately  turned  his  batteries  of  elo- 
quence upon  the  oppressions  of  the  political  pow- 
ers of  the  day.  The  revolution  which  drove  the 
Medicis  from  power  in  1492  was  perhaps  the 
immediate  result  of  his  sermons.  Being  without 
a  ruler  the  people  naturally  turned  to  Savonarola 
for  leadership,  and  he  ;n  his  piety  pointed  them 
to  the  Jewish  theocracy  as  a  model  of  civil  gov- 
ernment.     He  was  called  upon  to  organize  a  sys- 


SAVONAROLA.  119 

tern,  and  did  so,  naming  Jesus  Christ  as  the 
supreme  head  of  the  Florentine  republic,  and 
establishing  a  large  legislative  and  executive, 
council  to  act  under  him.  His  own  functions 
were  to  be  akin  to  those  of  Moses  and  Samuel  in 
the  Jewish  republic,  viz.:  those  of  prophet  and 
expounder  of  the  Divine  will.  I  don't  know  how 
the  plan  worked,  but  probably  not  well,  for  it 
was  of  short  duration.  In  four  or  ^ve  years  a 
popular  reaction  had  set  in.  Savonarola's  ene- 
mies gained  the  ascendancy,  and  he  was  deposed 
from  his  prophetic  office  and  thrown  into  prison 
on  a  charge  of  heresy.  They  made  short  work  of 
heretics  in  those  days,  and  a  charge  of  heresy 
was  a  capital  way  to  get  a  political  rival  out  of 
the  field.  The  unfortunate  man  was  brought  to 
trial,  easily  convicted,  and  in  accordance  with  the 
practice  of  the  day  was  first  tortured  and  then 
burned  at  the  stake  in  the  principal  public  square 
in  Florence.  A  fountain  now  occupies  the  pre- 
cise spot  upon  which  the  execution  took  place. 
But  the  most  remarkable  part  of  the  story  is  yet 
to  come.  Savonarola,  who  in  1498  was  burned  as 
a  heretic  by  the  authority  of  the  holy  church, 
was  some  years  later  canonized  by  the  same 
authority,  and  now  ranks  among  the  saints  in 
the  ecclesiastical  calendar.  Such  is  in  brief  the 
history  of  this  remarkable  man.  We  visited  his 
cell  in  St.  Mark's  convent,  saw  his  very  notice- 


120  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

able  portrait  painted  by  his  colleague,  Fra  Bar- 
tolommeo,  his  desk  at  which  he  wrote,  and  the 
books  he  studied,  with  their  copious  marginal 
annotations  in  his  own  handwriting. 

The  cells  in  St.  Mark's  are  about  twelve  feet 
square,  well  lighted,  and  altogether  quite  pleas- 
ant retreats  for  studiously  or  artistically  disposed 
monks.  The  frescoes  on  the  walls  of  the  cloisters, 
refectory  and  other  rooms,  painted  four  hundred 
years  ago,  are  to-day  as  fresh,  bright  and  beauti- 
ful as  ever.  The  institution  is  now  a  public 
museum.  In  the  fine  old  library  we  saw  in  glass 
cases  a  large  number  of  the  immense  folio  ritual 
books  of  mediaeval  times,  collected  from  various 
monasteries.  They  are  beautifully  engrossed  on 
parchment,  with  the  music,  and  each  page  bears 
more  or  less  elaborate  illumination  in  colors,  the 
work  of  the  monks  in  their  leisure  hours.  The 
music  is  written  on  a  staff  of  but  four  lines 
instead  of  five  as  now  in  use,  and  the  notes  are 
square  instead  of  round  or  oval. 


SAVONAROLA,   PROM  AN  Ot.D  PAINTINOt 


CHAPTER  XIY. 

ROME— THE   JOURNEY  THITHER-APPEARANCE   OF   THE    CITY— 
THE    CASTLE    OF    ST.    ANGELO— ST.    PETERS. 


4ffr  HE  journey  from  Florence  to  Rome  requires 
^  J     about     seven    hours.      The    first    half    is 

\  through  an  intensely  beautiful  country. 
We  follow  the  valley  of  the  Arno,  having  the 
Apennines  on  our  left.  The  surface  of  the  coun- 
try is  much  broken,  but  very  picturesque,  though 
thickly  populated  and  under  high  state  of  culti- 
vation. Metaphorically  speaking  there  is  not  a 
square  rod  of  land  that  has  not  a  tree  growing 
upon  it. 

Between  Arezzo  and  Chiusi  we  pass  through  a 
particularly  beautiful  district,  the  trees  here  hav- 
ing been  allowed  to  grow  to  full  size,  instead  of 
being  pruned  down  to  a  bare  trunk.  Then  we 
begin  to  follow  the  valley  of  a  branch  of  the 
Tiber. 

The  scene  changes,  and  we  are  in  a  poor,  rough, 
thinly -populated  country,  with  no  vineyards. 
Immense  rocks  frequently  shoot  up  perpendicu- 
larly from  the  prevailing  level,  and  form  the  sites 
for  castles  and  cities.  The  latter  are  compactly 
built,  but  show  scarcely  any  signs  of  habitation. 


131 


122  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

They  look  like  the  ghosts  of  towns  of  a  departed 
age.  The  sides  of  the  rocky  hills  are  honey- 
combed with  catacomb-like  excavations.  Droves 
of  pack  animals  with  huge  saddles  take  the  place 
of  vehicles.  The  view  is  an  exceedingly  dreary 
one.  Suddenly  we  come  upon  a  heap  of  ruined 
masonry,  and  directly  after  a  long  line  of  ruined 
arches  extending  across  the  plain.  We  know 
now  that  we  must  be  nearing  Rome,  and  while 
we  are  reflecting  on  it  we  pass  under  an  old  gate- 
way. More  extensive  ruins,  and  then  blocks  of 
five  and  six-story  modern  houses,  appear.  The 
train  stops.     We  are  in  Rome. 

Rome,  since  1870  the  capital  of  united  Italy, 
has  about  twice  the  population  of  Rochester  or 
Detroit.  I  was  agreeably  disappointed  in  it.  It 
was  much  cleaner  and  more  attractive  every  way 
than  I  expected  to  find  it.  The  eastern  portion 
is  being  extensively  rebuilt  in  Parisian  style,  with 
broad,  well -paved  streets,  and  elegant  five  and 
six-story  blocks.  The  leading  business  streets 
compare  favorably  with  other  principal  cities  of 
Europe  in  the  brilliancy  and  attractiveness  of 
their  stores.  The  streets  are  alive  with  fashion 
and  gaiety,  and  the  old  city  seems  fairly  to  have 
entered  upon  a  new  era  of  prosperity.  While 
thus  as  a  modern  city  a  pleasant  one  to  sojourn 
in,  Rome  presents  the  double  attraction  of  being 
able  to  exhibit  the  remains  of  twenty-six  centu- 


ROME.  123 

ries  of  antiquity,  and  some  of  the  finest  ruins 
perhaps  to  be  found  anywhere.  The  reader  must 
not  suppose  that  the  antiquities  are  remote  from , 
the  modern  city.  On  the  other  hand  thej^  are 
closely  intermingled.  Within  a  stone's  throw  of 
one  of  the  most  elegant  quarters  are  the  ruined 
for  a  of  Augustus  and  Trajan;  and  one  of  the 
most  interesting  old  heathen  temples,  fully  nine- 
teen centuries  old,  is  doing  regular  duty  as  a 
catholic  church  in  a  crowded  business  quarter. 
I  refer  to  the  Pantheon.  Fifteen  minutes  walk 
from  our  hotel  takes  us  to  the  Colosseum,  the 
Roman  Forum,  and  a  dozen  other  interesting  old 
ruins. 

Rome  is  situated  about  ten  or  twelve  miles 
from  the  sea,  and  about  the  same  distance  from 
the  foot  of  the  Apennines,  a  level  plain  known  as 
the  Campagna  lying  between.  The  Tiber  runs 
through  the  city  from  north  to  south  in  a  serpen- 
tine course,  dividing  it  into  two  unequal  portions. 
The  larger  and  older  lies  on  the  left  bank,  or  east 
of  the  river ;  St.  Peter's  and  the  Vatican,  or  pal- 
ace of  the  popes,  on  the  west  side.  The  whole 
city  is  surrounded  by  a  wall  about  fourteen  miles 
in  circuit.  It  was  originally  built  by  the  Empe- 
ror Aurelian,  about  the  year  271,  but  has  been 
much  repaired  by  later  rulers.  It  is  built  of 
stone  and  brick — chiefly  the  latter — and  is  fifty- 
five  feet  high,  but  hardly  massive  in  proportion. 


124         FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

It  would  be  no  defense  against  even  small  cannon 
of  the  present  day.     Twelve  gates  enter  tlie  city. 

The  streets,  though  generally  narrow,  and  in 
some  portions  very  crooked  and  irregular,  are  on 
the  whole  rather  symmetrically  laid  out,  so  that 
the  geography  of  the  city  is  soon  mastered.  Ex- 
cept on  the  newer  streets,  there  is  either  no  side- 
walk at  all,  or  so  narrow  a  one  that  if  a  body 
meet  a  body  one  must  step  into  the  roadway;  but 
this  one  does  not  mind,  for  the  streets  are  beauti- 
fully clean.  There  are  a  great  number  of  open 
squares  or  "piazzas,"  as  they  call  them,  and 
these  are  usually  decorated  with  Egyptian  obe- 
lisks of  larger  or  smaller  size.  The  city  being 
originally  built  on  seven  hills,  is  still  quite  undu- 
lating, some  localities  being  from  a  hundred  to 
a  hundred  and  fift}^  feet  higher  than  others. 
The  Corso  is  a  comparatively  narrow  street  run- 
ning north  and  south  through  the  heart  of  the 
city.  It  is  the  fashionable  retail  street  of  Rome, 
is  filled  with  brilliant  stores,  thronged  with  peo- 
ple at  all  hours,  and  in  the  afternoon  is  alive 
with  gay  equipages. 

The  larger  mansions  are  built  in  the  oriental 
style,  with  a  quadrangle  or  open  court  in  the  cen- 
ter reached  from  the  street  by  a  broad  arched 
entrance,  into  which  carriages  often  drive.  The 
court  is  usually  filled  with  trees  and  plants,  often 
has  a  fountain  in  the  center,  and  affords  a  very 


THE  ITALIANS.  125 

refreshing  peep  as  one  passes  the  entrance  arch. 
The  walls  of  all  buildings  are  very  much  thicker 
than  we  usually  construct  them.  Ceilings  are» 
frequently  vaulted,  stairs  are  almost  invariably 
of  stone  or  marble,  and  the  roofs  are  covered  with 
heavy  tiles  laid  in  cement.  Houses  built  in  this 
way  very  rarely  burn  down,  and  last  for  centu- 
ries. 

I  liked  the  Romans,  and,  indeed,  the  Italians 
generally.  They  are  a  cheerful,  good-natured, 
courteous  people.  Black  eyes  prevail,  but  other- 
wise the  Italians  are  very  much  like  other  peo- 
ple, though  individuals  giving  a  strong  impres- 
sion of  a  tinge  of  negro  blood  are  quite  common. 
The  dress,  too,  is  one  quite  like  our  own,  but  one 
frequently  meets  the  picturesque  peasant  cos- 
tume— a  folded  towel  worn  flat  on  top  of  the 
head  and  hanging  to  the  neck  behind  forming 
the  female  head-dress,  and  full  white  sleeves  with 
bodice,  neck-kerchief,  apron,  etc.,  of  bright  col- 
ors, as  red,  blue  and  yellow,  completing  the  attire. 
The  men  wear  felt  hats  with  pointed  crowns, 
knee  breeches,  red  stockings,  etc.  The  costume 
of  both  sexes  is  very  picturesque.  Beggars 
abound,  but  not  to  the  extent  I  had  been  led  to 
expect.  Most  of  them  have  deformities  of  some 
sort — some  very  disgusting  cases,  the  sins,  no 
doubt,  of  the  fathers  visited  upon  the  children 
to  the  third  and  fourth  generations. 


126  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

Every  one  is  familiar,  through  pictures,  with 
the  massive  round  tower  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Tiber  known  as  the  castle  of  St.  Angelo.  It  was 
built  in  the  first  quarter  of  the  second  century  by 
the  emperor  Hadrian  as  a  tomb  for  himself.  The 
base  is  three  hundred  and  forty- two  feet  square, 
and  upon  this  base  rises  the  circular  tower  two 
hundred  and  forty  feet  in  diameter  and  altogether 
one  hundred  and  sixty-five  feet  high.  With  the 
exception  of  passages  through  it,  and  the  burial 
vault  in  the  center  of  the  structure,  which  is 
about  twenty  feet  square  and  arched  over  at  the 
top,  this  building  is  a  solid  mass  of  masonry.  It 
was  originally  encrusted  with  marble  and  sur- 
mounted by  marble  statues,  but  these  have  long 
since  disappeared.  For  four  hundred  years  it 
was  the  mausoleum  of  all  the  Roman  emperors. 
Then  in  the  troublous  times  of  the  invasion  of  the 
Goths  it  began  to  be  used  as  a  fortress.  A  chapel 
erected  on  its  summit  and  dedicated  to  the  Angel 
Michael,  and  a  large  bronze  statue  of  an  angel 
w^hich  surmounts  its  highest  point,  gave  it  its 
present  name.  We  procured  a  "permesso  "  and 
visited  it.  The  summit  is  reached  by  an  inclined 
plane  and  steps  passing  in  their  course  through 
the  tomb  chamber.  The  summit  is  quite  a  minia- 
ture city,  with  its  numerous  small  buildings  and 
streets  paved  with  flagstones.  A  large  hall  is 
shown  us  in  which  the    trial  of  the  beautiful 


ST.  PETER'S.  127 

Beatrice  Cenci  for  tlie  murder  of  her  brutal  father 
who  sought  to  corrupt  her  virtue,  took  place  in 
1599,  and  adjoining  it  the  room  in  which  she  was 
put  to  torture.  The  view  from  the  summit  is 
very  fine.  St.  Angelo,  down  to  the  time  of  Pius 
IX.,  was  the  stronghold  of  the  popes,  and  is 
connected  with  the  Vatican  by  a  private  passage. 
It  is  now  garrisoned  by  the  royal  troops. 

We  spent  altogether  six  or  seven  hours  in  St. 
Peter's,  and  could  have  spent  as  many  days  with- 
out fatigue.  It  is  the  largest  and  most  imposing 
church  in  the  world,  the  great  masterpiece  of 
Michel  Angelo' s  genius.  The  longer  one  walks  its 
aisles  and  gazes  up  into  its  beautiful  dome  the 
more  deeply  is  he  impressed.  In  the  broad  lofty 
nave  alone  five  or  six  of  our  largest  churches  at 
home  could  stand,  barring  of  course  the  steeples, 
with  plenty  of  room  to  drive  around  them  with  a 
carriage ;  and  this  is  saying  nothing  of  the  broad 
double  aisles  on  either  side,  or  of  the  transepts. 
Under  the  dome  a  respectable  American  church 
steeple  could  stand  twice  over  and  still  have 
something  to  spare  in  the  matter  of  height,  it 
being  four  hundred  and  three  feet  from  the  pave- 
ment to  the  mosaic- covered  vaulting  above.  In 
superficial  area  the  church  occupies  a  space  equal 
to  about  two-and-a-half  ordinary  blocks  of  one  of 
our  western  cities — say  blocks  three  hundred  feet 
square.     Probably  the  largest  church  in  the  west 


128  FIVE  IMONTHS  ABROAD. 

could  stand  under  the  dome  without  touching 
walls  at  any  point. 

The  cost  of  the  building  has  far  exceeded  fifty- 
millions  of  dollars,  and  it  costs  thirty-five  thou- 
sand to  forty  thousand  dollars  a  year  simply  to 
keep  it  in  repair.  Notwithstanding  this  immense 
cost  it  is  still  far  from  complete.  The  walls  and 
piers  of  the  aisles  are  beautifully  overlaid  with 
variously  colored  marbles  and  finely  sculptured 
reliefs,  but  the  pilasters  of  the  nave  and  transepts 
are  simply  covered  with  plaster,  slightly  colored 
in  veins  to  imitate  marble.  Of  course  it  was  the 
intention  some  day  to  enrich  these  portions  cor- 
respondingly with  the  aisles.  So,  too,  while  the 
inscription  in  mammoth  letters  around  the  inside 
of  the  dome  is  in  imperishable  mosaic,  that 
extending  around  the  nave  and  transepts  is,  sim- 
ply painted  on  cloth  like  the  political  campaign 
streamers  we  indulge  in  at  home. 

But  these  imperfections  are  lost  sight  of  in 
presence  of  the  exquisite  beauty  of  the  mosaic 
altar  pieces  (copies  of  famous  pictures  by  the 
old  masters  in  the  Vatican  gallery),  of  the  mag- 
nificent sculptured  tombs  of  deceased  popes,  and 
of  the  general  effect  of  the  grand  proportions  of 
the  edifice. 

Under  the  dome  is  the  high  altar,  with  St. 
Peter's  tomb  beneath  it  and  a  massive  bronze 
canopy  ninety-five  feet  high,  but  which  scarcely 


ST.  PETER'S.  129 

looks  twenty,  above  it.  In  front  is  an  enclosed 
space  with  steps  leading  down  to  tlie  tomb 
and  eighty-nine  ever-burning  lamps  around  it. 
Near  by  is  a  bronze  statue  of  St.  Peter  in  a 
sitting  position,  with  his  right  foot  projecting  a 
little  beyond  the  pedestal.  It  is  an  insignificant 
looking  figure,  but  is  very  ancient.  It  is  the 
habit  with  good  catholics  to  kiss  the  projecting 
foot,  and  this  has  been  done  to  such  an  extent 
that  the  foot  is  worn  to  about  half  its  original 
thickness.  As  we  were  looking  at  it  several  per- 
sons of  various  classes  came  up  and  went  through 
the  ceremony.  They  would  whip  out  their 
pocket  handkerchiefs,  give  the  toe  one  smart 
rub,  kiss  it,  press  their  foreheads  against  it  and 
pass  on. 

Among  the  more  noticeable  objects  in  the  aisles 
are  the  tomb  of  the  daughter  of  the  protestant 
king  of  Sweden,  Gustavus  Adolphus,  who  became 
a  convert  to  Catholicism;  the  monument  of  Pope 
Gregory. XIII.,  who  reformed  the  calendar  two 
hundred  years  ago;  that  of  Gregory  I.  (the  Great), 
who  died  nearly  thirteen  hundred  years  ago;  that 
of  the  late  Pius  IX.,  a  plain  sarcophagus  resting 
on  the  cornice  over  a  doorway,  and  the  tombs  of 
''James  III."  of  England  and  his  sons,  Charles 
Edward  and  Henry,  ''  the  last  of  the  Stuarts." 
These  were  the  sons  and  two  grandsons  of  James 
II.,  deposed  at  the  revolution  of  1688  for  his 


130  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

attempt  to  restore  the  Church  of  England  to 
Catholicism.  In  English  history  the  line  of  the 
Stuarts  ends  with  James  II.,  and  these  gentlemen 
are  styled  ''Pretenders;"  but  catholic  Europe 
recognizes  their  legitimacy  and  honors  them  with 
royal  tombs. 

On  every  Thursday  the  ascent  of  the  dome  is 
permitted  to  the  public.  We  first  ascend  to  the 
roof  of  the  church  by  a  spiral  inclined  plane  in  a 
circular  tower  adjoining  the  north  aisle.  In  the 
wall  are  marble  tablets  recording  the  ascent  of 
notable  personages,  and  among  them  we  notice 
the  names  of  the  late  Emperor  Alexander  II.  of 
Russia,  Queen  Isabella  and  the  present  King 
Alfonso  of  Spain,  and  the  unfortunate  Empress 
Carlotta  of  Mexico.  We  are  now  on  the  roof,  one 
hundred  and  sixty-five  feet  from  the  ground.  It 
is  unlike  the  roof  of  any  other  building  we  ever 
saw.  Part  is  paved  with  large  flagstones,  part 
with  brick,  and  here  and  there  a  section  is  cov- 
ered with  lead  or  tiles.  There  are  a  great  number 
of  cupolas  and  other  buildings — quite  a  little  vil- 
lage in  fact— a  number  of  people  making  their 
regular  homes  upon  this  immense  roof.  The 
dome  still  rises  over  three  hundred  feet  above  us, 
but  so  easy  are  the  stairways  that  it  is  ascended 
without  much  fatigue.  Unlike  the  dome  of  St. 
Paul's,  London,  the  outer  shell  of  which  is  of 
timber  covered  with  lead,  this  one  is  of  stone 


THE  DOME  OF  ST.  PETER'S,  131 

throughout.  It  is  constructed  in  two  shells,  an 
outer  and  inner,  and  the  stairway  to  the  top  is 
between  them.  The  summit  commands  a  splen- 
did view — mountains  to  the  north  and  east,  with 
broad  plains  intervening ;  more  plains  to  the  west, 
with  the  blue  waters  of  the  Mediterranean  in  the 
distance,  and  all  the  hills  and  vales,  domes  and 
palaces,  gardens  and  groves,  of  Rome  at  our  feet. 
We  spend  an  hour  in  the  hot  sun,  and  still  can 
hardly  tear  ourselves  away. 

Pictures  of  St.  Peter's  always  show  the  dome 
disproportionately  flat.  In  fact  its  proportions 
are  admirable,  but  from  no  point  of  view  can  they 
be  seen  to  advantage,  owing  to  the  bad  taste  of 
later  architects,  who  changed  Michel  Angelo's 
plans  by  lengthening  the  nave  so  as  to  give  the 
building  the  form  of  a  Latin  instead  of  a  Greek 
cross  as  was  originally  designed.  The  effect  has 
been  to  throw  the  dome  so  far  back  from  the 
main  front  that  the  lower  part,  or  drum,  is  wholly 
obscured  from  view. 

The  building  is  also  disfigured  by  the  vanity  of 
the  popes,  who  for  three  centuries  have  seemed  to 
vie  with  each  other  as  to  who  shall  record  his 
name  on  the  building  in  the  greatest  number  of 
places.  The  principal  facade  bears,  in  letters 
probably  ten  feet  long,  instead  of  an  ascription 
of  praise  to  the  Almighty,  the  vain  record  that 
the  building  was  erected  by  Paul  V.,  Borghese,  in 


132  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

1612.  But  even  this  is  less  disgusting  than  the 
inscriptions  on  the  various  objects  in  the  Vatican 
and  other  museums^  where,  instead  of  finding  the 
title  or  explanation  of  the  object  we  only  find  the 
name  of  the  pope  by  whose  ''munificence"  it 
was  placed  there.  This  papal  self-glorification  is 
peculiarly  the  eye-sore  of  Rome. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

ROME— ITS  MORE  FAMOUS  CHURCHES-THE  VATICAN— THE  GAL- 
LERIES OF  SCULPTURE— SHELLEY'S  GRAVE-MOSAICS. 

ESIDES  St.  Peter's,  Rome  has  several  other, 
nearly  as  famous  churches.  Among  them 
is  the  basilica  of  St.  John's,  Lateran,  a  very 
large  and  handsome  church,  bearing  little  evi- 
dence in  its  rich  marble  front  and  perfect  state  of 
repair,  of  its  fifteen  centuries  of  antiquity.  But 
then  it  has  been  destroyed  by  fire  and  earthquake 
several  times,  and  as  often  rebuilt.  It  takes  its 
name  from  a  Roman  family  who  formerly  occu- 
pied the  palace  it  adjoins.  Notwithstanding  that 
it  is  the  cathedral  church  of  Rome  it  is  situated 
in  the  extreme  outskirts  of  the  city,  with  open 
commons  all  around  it.  As  a  compliment  to  the 
pope,  the  precincts  of  this  church,  as  well  as  the 
Vatican,  have  been  ex- territorialized  by  the  Italian 
government,  so  as  to  be  entirely  outside  King 
Humbert's  jurisdiction.  In  the  cloisters  of  St. 
John's  the  visitor  is  shown  two  small  columns 
which  once  formed  part  of  the  temple  at  Jerusa- 
lem. It  can  readily  be  believed,  for  they  certain- 
ly belong  to  no  existing  order  of  architecture. 

133, 


134  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

Another  curious  instance  of  large  churches 
being  built  remote  from  any  population  worth 
speaking  of  is  the  case  of  St.  Paul's  beyond  the 
walls.  This  is  situated  a  mile  or  more  from  the 
city,  and  with  no  settlement  around  it.  While 
smaller  than  St.  Peter's,  and  with  a  very  plain 
exterior,  it  is  interiorly  x^erhaps  the  most  beauti- 
ful church  in  the  world.  The  floor  of  polished 
marble  shines  like  a  mirror.  Eighty  large  col- 
umns, each  a  single  block  of  polished  granite, 
support  the  roof  of  the  nave  and  aisles,  xibove 
them  in  circular  panels  are  portraits  in  mosaic  of 
all  the  popes,  from  St.  Peter  down  to  Leo  XIII. , 
over  two  hundred  and  fifty  in  all.  The  ceiling  of 
the  nave  and  transepts  is  of  wood,  richly  orna- 
mented and  gilded.  The  church  is  very  large, 
being  three  hundred  and  ninety  feet  long,  one 
hundred  and  ninety-fiye  wide  and  seventy-five 
high.  It  was  founded  in  the  year  388,  and  was 
claimed  to  contain  the  remains  of  St.  Paul  him- 
self. It  burned  down,  however,  in  1823,  and  has 
since  been  rebuilt,  the  work  being  hardly  yet 
complete.  Its  cost  must  have  been  enormous, 
and  it  puzzles  one  to  conjecture  where  all  the 
money  could  have  come  from.  The  great  variety 
of  rare  marbles  and  malachites,  the  beauty  of  the 
mosaics  and  richness  of  the  stained  glass,  render 
it  certainly,  for  its  size,  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
and  costly  structures  in  the  world. 


THE  CHURCHES  OF  ROME.  135 

Space  will  not  permit  mention  of  all  even  of 
the  notable  churches  of  the  city.  St.  Maria  Mag- 
giore,  another  ancient  basilica,  we  were  unable  to« 
get  away  from  in  less  than  an  hour.  It  contains 
two  particularly  beautiful  chapels,  the  burial 
places  of  four  sixteenth-century  popes.  St. 
Croce,  a  very  old  church  in  the  outskirts  of  the 
city,  is  interesting  as  having  been  erected  by  St. 
Helena,  mother  of  the  Emperor  Constantine  the 
Great,  in  the  fourth  century.  The  inscription 
that  Pilate  wrote  and  set  up  over  the  cross  is  said 
to  be  preserved  in  this  church,  though  of  course 
we  did  not  see  it. 

Talking  of  churches,  the  American  chapel  in 
Rome  is  one  of  the  prettiest  little  modern  churches 
I  have  found.  Prior  to  the  fall  of  the  papal  civil 
power  in  1870,  it  was  the  only  protestant  church 
permitted  within  the  walls. 

The  palace  of  the  Vatican,  the  residence  of  the 
pope,  adjoins  St.  Peter's,  and  is  said  to  be  the 
largest  palace  in  the  world.  It  is  an  irregular 
pile  of  old-fashioned,  and,  in  many  portions, 
unsightly  buildings.  It  is  guarded  by  a  corps  of 
oddly  uniformed  soldiers  known  as  the  Swiss 
Guard.  Only  a  small  portion  of  the  building  is 
actually  occupied  by  the  private  apartments  of 
the  pope,  the  remainder  being  taken  up  with 
offices  for  the  transaction  of  the  immense  business 
of  the  church,  and  extensive  museums  and  gal- 


136         FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

leries  of  art.  The  picture  gallery  contains  but 
comparatively  few  works,  and  these  all  of  reli- 
gious character.  It  was  begun  with  the  pictures 
plundered  by  Napoleon  I.  from  the  churches  of 
Italy  and  restored  at  the  close  of  his  career  in 
1815;  to  which  collection  some  later  additions 
have  been  made.  But  the  galleries  of  antique 
sculpture  are  very  extensive  and  interesting. 
The  salon  of  animals,  which  is  filled  with  sculp- 
tured animals  of  all  sorts,  is  simply  wonderful. 
The  Vatican  also  contains  the  famous  antique 
group  known  as  the  Laocoon,  also  of  the  Apollo 
Belvedere. 

The  Sistine  chapel,  the  private  chapel  of  the 
Vatican,  noted  for  its  elaborate  frescoes  by  Michel 
Angelo,  is  rather  disappointing.  It  has  the 
appearance  of  a  dingy  lumber  room,  and  there 
are  no  indications  of  its  having  been  used  for 
religious  purposes  for  years.  The  walls  are  plain, 
and  the  ceiling  is  a  simple  arched  vault.  It  is  so 
dark  that  the  frescoes  are  hardly  distinguishable, 
and  famous  as  they^are  it  is  difl3.cult  to  see  any 
beauty  in  them  with  everything  so  much  of  one 
color.  So,  too,  with  Raphael's  celebrated  fres- 
coes in  the  former  private  apartments  of  the 
pope  ;  it  is  difiicult  for  the  uninitiated  fully  to 
appreciate  them,  although  these  Sistine  chapel 
and  Vatican  frescoes  are  considered  the  most 
famous  in  the  world. 


THE  MUSEUMS  OF  ROME.  137 

There  is  another  very  interesting  collection  of 
antique  statuary  in  a  museum  on  Capitoline  hill. 
Here  are  the  famous  "Dying  Gladiator"  and  the 
"Capitoline  Yenus,"  with  many  other  beautiful 
pieces  of  ancient  work. 

The  principal  collection  of  pictures,  besides 
that  in  the  Vatican,  is  at  the  Borghese  palace. 
It  is  very  tame,  however,  after  seeing  the  Uffizi 
gallery  at  Florence.  At  the  Barberini  palace  is  a 
small  collection,  including  Guido  Reni's  pleasing 
portrait  of  Beatrice  Cenci,  of  which  copies  are 
so  numerous.  While  Rome  stands  pre-eminent 
for  its  sculpture,  Florence  must  have  the  palm 
for  pictures. 

There  is  a  very  pretty  protestant  cemetery  in 
Rome,  near  St.  Paul's  gate.     It  is  filled  chiefly 
with  graves  of  English  and  American  people  who 
have  died  in  or  near  Rome.     We  stumbled  upon 
a  plain  flat  stone  bearing  this  inscription: 
Percy  Bysshe  Shelley, 
Cor,  Cordium. 
Natus  IV  Aug.  MDCCXCII. 
Obiit  VIII  Jul.  MDCCCXXII. 
"  Nothing  of  him  that  doth  fade 
But  doth  suffer  a  sea-change 
Into  something  rich  and  strange." 

The  poet  Keats,  too,  is  buried  in  this  ceme- 
tery. 

The  most  elegant  post  office  I  have  seen  any- 
where is  the  one  at  Rome.    It  has  a  court-yard  in 


138  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

the  center  filled  with  fountains,  shrubbery  and 
flowers.  Around  this  is  an  arcade  upon  which 
the  general  delivery,  stamp  windows,  and  all  the 
different  offices  open.     It  is  a  charming  place. 

Rome  is  no  exception  to  the  rule  in  Italy  in  the 
matter  of  the  ignoring  of  the  sabbath.  Sunday 
is  a  good  day  to  haul  building  material  appar- 
ently, from  the  number  of  wagons  that  throng 
the  streets  loaded  with  stone  and  bricks.  Stone 
cutters  chip  away  all  day,  carpenters  shove  their 
planes  as  we  pass  their  shops  on  our  way  to 
church,  and  blacksmiths  file  away  at  their  vises 
just  as  on  week  days. 

Eome  overflows  with  priests,  friars  and  stu- 
dents. They  all  look  jolly,  and  appear  to  go  in 
for  enjoyment  much  more  than  our  priests  at 
home.  The  picture  galleries  and  other  places  of 
popular  resort  are  full  of  them,  and  it  is  not 
uncommon  even  to  see  black  gowns,  students, 
perhaps,  escorting  ladies  about.  The  nuns,  too, 
take  an  interest  in  the  bonnets  of  the  ladies  they 
meet  to  an  extent  that  would  shock  our  good 
American  sisters.  The  brown-gowned  monk 
reads  the  secular  papers  and  chats  on  the  street 
corners  just  as  any  one  else  might  do. 

Rome  is  famous  for  its  Roman  mosaics  and 
cameos.  The  latter  are  cut  from  shell,  the 
antique  statues  in  the  public  galleries  serving  for 
models.     These  sell  at  four  to  five  dollars  apiece, 


MOSAICS  AND  CAMEOS.  139 

xinset,  and  are  very  beautiful.  But  for  fifteen  to 
twenty  dollars  anyone  can  have  his  own  portrait 
cut  in  cameo,  a  photograph  in  profile  being  taken 
for  a  pattern  for  the  artist  to  work  from. 

Mosaics,  or  pictures  formed  of  small  pieces  of 
stone  ckillfully  cemented  together,  are  of  three 
distinct  classes,  Venetian,  Florentine  and  Roman. 
The  Venetian  mosaics  are  made  of  minute  pieces 
of  colored  glass,  put  together  so  as  to  form  pic- 
tures of  flowers,  buildings,  etc.,  and  are  generally, 
if  not  always,  in  small  sizes,  adapted  only  for 
jewelry  or  small  trinkets.  The  more  beautiful 
and  artistic  Florentine  mosaics  have  already  been 
described.  Roman  mosaics  are  somewhat  similar 
to  Venetian,  the  whole  surface  being  filled  up 
with  pieces  of  uniform  size  and  shape,  but  stone 
or  colored  tile  taking  the  place  of  glass,  and  being 
used  in  larger  pieces ;  in  the  case  of  large  pictures 
for  wall  decorations  half  an  inch  square  or  more. 
Eoman  mosaics  are  found  mostly  in  the  shape  of 
pictures  for  framing,  wall  or  ceiling  decorations, 
and  ornamented  pavements.  The  cost  of  a  pic- 
ture in  Roman  mosaic  is  probably  about  four 
or  five  times  what  the  same  would  cost  painted  in 
oil.  Really  artistic  ones  are  hence  quite  costly, 
but  they  are  very  beautiful  and  enduring. 


CHAPTER  XYT. 

ANCIENT  ROME— THE  FORUMS— THE  PALACES  OF  THE  CJESARS— 
THE  COLOSSEUM-THE  PANTHEON-THE  APPIAN  WAY— THE 
CATACOMBS   AND   THE   MAMERTINE    PRISON. 

S  remarked  before,  tlie  remains  of  ancient 
Rome  are  scattered  through  the  city  in 
close  conjunction  with  comparatively  mod- 
ern structures.  Thus  we  may  often  see  a  rude 
building  only  a  few  centuries  old,  in  the  wall  of 
which  is  imbedded  the  upper  part  of  a  massive 
antique  column.  The  column  has,  perhaps,  stood 
there  for  two  thousand  years.  The  level  of  the 
earth  around  it  has  been  gradually  raised  by 
deposits  of  rubbish  and  the  leveling  of  the  hills, 
until  only  its  upper  portion  is  visible  above 
ground,  and  this,  standing  in  the  way  of  the  more 
modern  wall,  has  been  incorporated  as  part  of  it. 
All  over  Rome  we  find  such  antique  fragments, 
sometimes  a  piece  of  wall,  sometimes  an  isolated 
column,  and  occasionally  a  frieze  and  pediment, 
still  in  their  place.  The  stone  is  generally  badly 
broken,  split  and  decayed,  and  such  fragments 
are  frequently  strapped  up  with  iron  to  prevent 
accident. 

The  remains  are  most  numerous,  however,  in 

140 


THE  EXCAVATIONS  AT  ROME.  141 

the  sontliern  part  of  the  city,  and  during  the 
present  century  considerable  work  has  been  done 
in  clearing  away  the  modern  houses  in  certain 
sections  and  then  excavating  the  earth  down  to 
the  old  level,  carefully  preserving  all  fragments 
of  antique  stone  work  foand.  In  this  way  the 
sites  of  many  ancient  temples  have  been  deter- 
mined, ancient  streets  identified,  and  fora,  or 
places  of  public  gathering,  with  their  rostra  or 
pulpits  from  whence  the  people  were  addressed 
by  their  great  orators,  laid  bare.  At  three  locali- 
ties in  particular  have  these  excavations  been 
extensively  prosecuted,  viz.:  the  Forum  of  Tra- 
jan, the  Roman  Forum,  and  the  Palaces  of  the 
Caesars.  In  the  case  of  the  Forum  of  Trajan, 
now  embraced  in  one  of  the  public  squares  of  the 
city,  the  pavement  was  found  at  a  depth  of  ten 
or  twelve  feet  below  the  present  roadway  that 
surrounds  it.  The  earth  was  cleared  away  down 
to  the  old  level,  and  a  brick  wall  constructed 
around  the  excavation  to  prevent  the  sides  from 
caving  in.  At  one  end  of  the  excavation  rises 
the  richly-carved  column  of  Trajan,  erected  as  a 
monument  to  his  victories,  and  which,  before  the 
excavation  was  effected,  had  ten  feet  of  its  base 
under  ground.  In  the  center  are  the  stumps  of 
some  thirty  or  forty  huge  granite  columns,  which 
once  entered  into  the  construction  of  a  basilica  or 
large  covered  hall.    Scattered  all  around  are  frag- 


142  FIVE  MONTHS  ABHOAD. 

ments  of  tliese  columns,  witli  sculptured  stone 
work,  broken  statues  and  carved  inscriptions,  all 
found  in  the  work  of  excavating.  The  pit  or 
excavation  can  be  looked  into  from  the  parapet 
wall  that  surrounds  it,  or  can  be  entered  by  steps 
at  one  end.     It  is  open  free  to  the  public. 

The  Roman  Forum  in  some  respects  is  more 
interesting  even  than  Trajan's.  It  lies  at  the  foot 
of  the  Capitoline  hill,  and  contains  the  ruins  of  a 
number  of  temples.  The  most  conspicuous  objects 
are  the  arch  of  Severus  and  eight  tall  Corinthian 
columns,  once  forming  the  front  of  the  temple 
of  Saturn.  The  ancient  Homans  clearly  were 
not  a  church-going  people,  and  small  temples 
sufficed  them,  for  in  an  area  of  two  hundred  feet 
square  we  have  the  remains  of  three  distinct 
temples.  A  little  beyond  are  the  remains  of  an 
immense  basilica  over  three  hundred  feet  long  by 
a  hundred  and  fifty  feet  wide,  believed  to  have 
been  built  by  Julius  Caesar  forty-six  years  before 
Christ.  It  evidently  consisted  of  rows  of  brick 
piers,  connected  above  by  arched  vaulting,  but 
with  an  elegant  stone  exterior.  On  one  side  of 
this  is  the  paved  open  space  where  the  people 
gathered  for  public  meetings  and  other  purposes, 
and  at  each  end  of  this  space  are  rostra  for  the 
speakers.  Through  the  entire  length  of  the 
Forum  extends  a  path,  three  or  four  yards  wide 
and  paved  with  large  flat  stones,  which  path  is 


THE  PALACES  OF  THE  C^SARS.  143 

believed  to  have  been  the  Via  Sacra,  leading  up 
to  the  Capitol.  Besides  those  mentioned,  there  are 
the  colonnades  of  two  or  more  other  temples  in 
this  excavation,  which  is  altogether  over  eight 
hundred  feet  long,  by  three  hundred  or  four  hun- 
dred feet  wide.  The  space  is  inclosed  by  a  retain- 
ing wall  and  parapet,  and  is  full  of  sculptured 
remains. 

But  the  most  extensive  and  interesting  of  all 
the  archaeological  excavations  is  that  on  the  site 
of  the  Palaces  of  the  Caesars,  on  Palatine  hill 
overlooking  the  Roman  Forum.  The  summit  of 
the  hill  for  some  acres  in  extent  is  one  mass  of 
stupendous  ruins.  These  prove  to  be  the  remains 
of  a  series  of  magnificent  palaces  erected  by  the 
emperors  Augustus,  Domitian,  Caligula  and  oth- 
ers, with  some  foundation  walls  extending  back 
even  to  the  times  of  Romulus  and  the  Tarquins, 
— six  hundred  to  seven  hundred  and  fifty  years 
before  Christ.  A  first  glance  at  the  ruins  shows 
only  a  wilderness  of  brick  walls,  arches  and  vault- 
ings, the  walls  being  from  three  to  six  feet  thick 
and  sometimes  fifty  to  sixty  feet  high.  A  closer 
inspection,  however,  convinces  one  that  these 
walls  have  once  been  encased  with  rare  marbles 
and  have  exhibited  facades  of  the  finest  work- 
manship. Exquisitely  sculptured  stone  cornices, 
capitals,  bases,  etc.,  and  beautifully  inlaid  marble 
and  mosaic  pavements  show  that  the  structures 


144  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

were  not  the  rough  barbaric  edifices  we  had  at 
first  been  led  to  suppose.  In  one  case  we  have 
well  defined  remains  of  a  spacious  hall  surrounded 
with  a  row  of  elegant  marble  columns.  Farther 
on  is  the  ruin  of  a  magnificent  fountain;  else- 
where a  suite  of  rooms  with  mosaic  floors  that 
would  put  to  blush  the  work  of  the  present  day, 
and  frescoed  walls  really  beautiful  even  now. 
Fragments  of  marble  found  amid  the  ruins  and 
collected  in  the  museum  at  the  entrance  show 
that  the  builders  were  familiar  with  a  great  many 
varieties  and  used  them  freely  in  ornamenting. 
With  the  extent  and  magnificence  of  these  palaces 
the  spectator  is  strongly  impressed.  A  charge  of 
a  franc  apiece  is  made  by  the  government  for  the 
viewing  of  the  remains. 

In  inspecting  the  ruins  of  ancient  Eome  one  is 
struck  with  the  closeness  with  which  the  temples 
and  other  buildings  were  crowded  together ;  with 
the  smallness  of  the  temples ;  with  the  great 
extent  to  which  brick  and  concrete  were  used  by 
the  early  Romans,  and  particularly  with  the  mas- 
siveness  of  their  walls  and  vaultings.  A  piece  of 
the  vaulted  ceiling  of  the  Basilica  of  Constantine, 
originally  one  hundred  feet  above  the  pavement 
but  now  lying  on  the  ground,  measures  nearly  a 
yard  in  thickness.  The  vaultings  of  Cologne 
Cathedral,  by  contrast,  are  only  nine  inches  thick. 
The  Homan  bricks  were  very  thin  compared  with 


THE  COLOSSEUM.  145 

ours,  one  and  one-fourth  inches  being  the  usual 
thickness,  while  I  have  found  them  as  thin  as  one 
inch.  The  Romans  used  mortar  very  liberally, 
the  joints  being  sometimes  as  thick  as  the  bricks 
themselves.  But  they  possessed  tha  art  of  mak- 
ing a  mortar  nearly  as  hard  and  durable  as  stone. 
The  Basilica  of  Constantine  mentioned  above 
must  have  been  a  magnificent  piece  of  masonry, 
its  brick  ceiling  of  eighty  feet  span  being  admir- 
ably constructed  in  series  of  octagonal  panels. 

Proceeding  southwestward  from  Capitol  hill  we 
have  a  constant  succession  of  interesting  ruins.  At 
the  foot  of  the  abrupt  hill  lies  the  Rohian  forum, 
described  above.  Then  to  the  left  the  Temple  of 
Romulus  and  the  Basilica  of  Constantine ;  to  the 
right.  Palatine  hill  with  the  Palaces  of  the  Caesars. 
The  road  now  passes  under  the  Arch  of  Titus  and 
down  a  long  slope  with  temples  of  Venus  and 
Roma  on  one  side  and  piles  of  brick  ruins,  said  to 
have  been  private  dwellings,  on  the  other.  Beyond 
these  we  come  upon  the  Arch  of  Constantine  and 
the  Colosseum.  The  general  character  of  this 
latter  stupendous  work  I  have  described  in  con- 
nection with  the  Arena  at  Verona.  It  was  an 
immense  out-door  theater,  capable  of  seating  over 
eighty  thousand  spectators.  It  is  oval  in  form, 
six  hundred  and  fifteen  feet  long,  and  five  hun- 
dred and  ten  feet  wide.  The  outside  wall  rises  to 
a  height  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  feet,  and 

10 


146  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

from  near  the  summit  of  this,  stone  seats  former- 
ly sloped  down  in  tiers  to  the  edge  of  the  arena 
in  the  center.  It  was  built  by  the  emperors  Ves- 
pasian and  Titus  about  the  year  80.  An  idea  of 
the  immense  quantity  of  masonry  involved  in  its 
construction  cannot  be  conveyed  in  writing.  I 
suppose  there  is  more  brick  and  stone  in  it  than 
in  all  the  buildings  in  an  ordinary  city  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  inhabitants  put 
together.  When  it  ceased  to  be  used  for  the  pur- 
pose for  which  it  was  originally  designed,  it 
became  for  generations  the  great  quarry  from 
which  all  the  building  material  required  for  Rome 
was  derived.  Its  general  appearance  everyone  is 
familiar  with.  It  is  a  story  higher  than  the 
Arena  in  Verona,  or  four  in  all,  and  the  exterior 
was  originally  handsomely  finished  with  Tuscan 
columns  in  the  first  story,  Ionic  in  the  second, 
Corinthian  in  the  third  and  Corinthian  pilasters 
in  the  fourth.  It  is  in  a  sad  state  of  ruin,  and 
much  of  what  we  see  in  anything  like  complete 
form  is  mere  modern  restoration.  It  should  be 
understood  that  this  is  not  the  only  ancient 
amphitheatre  in  Rome.  There  are  at  least  three 
others,  viz.,  the  Theatre  of  Marcellus,  the  Circus 
of  Maxentius,  and  the  Amphitheatre  Castrense, 
but  these  are  comparatively  small,  and  in  an  even 
less  perfect  condition  than  the  Colosseum. 
But  the  ^nest  remnant  of  the  architecture  of 


THE  PANTHEON.  147 

the  early  imperial  age  of  Rome  is  the  Pantheon. 
This  was  originally  built  B.  C.  27,  by  Marcus 
Agrippa,  son-in-law  of  the  emperor  Augustus, 
and  was  originall}^  designed  as  a  temple  for  all  the 
gods  who  were  not  fortunate  enough  to  have 
special  temples  of  their  own.  It  is  an  immense 
circular  building,  one  hundred  and  forty  feet  in 
diameter,  with  walls  twenty  feet  thick,  and  cov- 
ered with  a  large  flat  dome  of  solid  masonry,  the 
height  of  which  above  the  pavement  is  also  one 
hundred  and  forty  feet.  It  has  a  massive  portico, 
supported  by  sixteen  monolithic  columns,  each 
about  four  feet  in  diameter  and  thirty-nine  feet 
high.  The  building  has  no  windows,  but  is 
lighted  by  a  large  round  hole  in  the  center  of  the 
dome,  open  to  the  weather.  Any  rain  that  comes 
in  is  carried  off  by  drains  in  the  pavement  below. 
There  are  seven  large  niches  in  the  interior  wall, 
each  of  which  originally  contained  a  statue  of 
some  divinity,  but  the  places  of  which  are  now 
occupied  by  christian  altars,  the  structure  having 
for  centuries  been  in  use  as  a  catholic  church. 
The  Pantheon  contains  among  others  the  tombs 
of  Raphael  and  the  late  King  Victor  Emmanuel. 
One  afternoon  we  drove  out  for  a  few  miles  on 
the  Appian  Way,  a  military  road  constructed 
three  hundred  and  twelve  years  before  Christ  by 
Appius  Claudius  Csecus,  and  still  a  useful  turn- 
pike road.     The  old  road  had  become,  like  every- 


148  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

tiling  else,  buried  up  with  debris,  but  Pope  Pius 
IX.  caused  it  to  be  excavated  for  several  miles, 
and  we  are  thus  enabled  to  see  it  to-day  in  nearly 
its  original  state.  The  roadway  itself  is  about 
eighteen  feet  wide,  with  a  curb  of  rough  stone  on 
either  side.  The  gutters  are  laid  with  flat,  irregu- 
larly shaped  stones,  and  occasionally  these  extend 
entirely  across  the  street.  Back  a  few  yards 
from  the  curb,  on  both  sides,  are  constant  succes- 
sions of  ruined  remains,  said  to  be  tombs.  It  is 
just  as  if  all  the  monuments  in  one  of  our  western 
cemeteries  had  been  for  some  miles  strung  along 
both  sides  of  one  of  the  principal  thoroughfares 
leading  out  of  the  city.  These  Appian  Way 
monuments  are  now  for  the  most  part  large  piles 
of  rough  brick  or  concrete  masonry,  the  facings 
of  marble  which  once  encased  them  having  beea 
stripped  off  by  the  vandals  of  the  dark  ages. 
Now  and  then,  however,  sculptured  stonework 
and  inscriptions  are  seen,  and  occasionally  some 
resemblance  to  a  perfect  tomb.  The  most  notice- 
able tomb  is  that  of  Csecilia  Metella,  which  takes 
the  form  of  a  circular  tower,  sixty-flve  feet  in 
diameter  and  perhaps  an  equal  height,  erected 
upon  a  square  pedestal  of  even  larger  size.  At  a 
later  period  it  was  used  as  the  keep  or  stronghold 
of  a  castle  which  grew  up  around  it,  but  which  is 
now  even  more  ruinous  than  the  tomb  itself. 
The  latter  is  covered  with  dressed  stone  with 


THE  CATACOMBS. 


149 


wreaths  and  skulls  of  oxen  carved  on  it.  Slave 
labor  must  have  been  very  abundant  at  the  time 
of  their  erection  to  have  made  such  large  and 
massive  buildings  possible. 


TOMB  OF  CMCltXA  METELLA. 


There  are  in  the  vicinity  of  Rome  a  number  of 
different  catacombs,  or  ancient  subterranean  bury- 
ing places.  We  visited  those  of  St.  Callistus,  a 
mile  from  the  city,  on  the  Appian  Way.  We 
descend  some  thirty  or  forty  feet  into  the  ground, 
and  then  by  the  light  of  candles  traverse  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  or  more  of  narrow  passages  cut 


150  '  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

through  the  stiff  earth,  with  tiers  of  horizontal 
niches  on  each  side  of  us.  In  these  niches  the 
dead  were  laid  and  afterwards  walled  in  with  tiles 
and  plaster.  Economy  of  burial  space,  I  imagine, 
was  the  prime  object  of  these  catacombs,  as 
thus  no  surface  land  was  wasted. 

Another  subterranean  locality  we  visited  was 
the  Mamertine  prison,  a  sub- cellar  under  some 
ancient  Roman  structure,  now  replaced  by  a 
christian  church.  There  can  be  no  doubt  of  its 
antiquity.  Here  Peter  and  Paul  are  said  to 
have  been  confined,  and  here  Jugurtha,  king  of 
Numidia,  was  starved  to  death  one  hundred  and 
six  years  before  Christ. 

A  week  is  all  too  short  a  time  in  which  to  see 
Rome.  One  should  stay  at  the  very  least  a  fort- 
night. Our  short  stay  of  eight  days,  necessarily 
short  by  reason  of  the  lateness  of  the  season  and 
rumors  of  increasing  prevalence  of  Roman  fever, 
prevented  our  giving  more  than  a  hurried  visit  to 
many  objects  that  would  well  have  merited  more 
careful  examination.  Among  these  slighted 
objects  were  the  Tomb  of  Augustus,  the  Baths  of 
Titus  and  Caracalla,  Hadrian's  Yilla  at  Tivoli, 
the  Farnese  Palace  and  the  Ghetto,  or  Jew' s  quar- 
ter, in  which,  up  to  within  a  very  few  years,  all  the 
Jews  in  Rome  were  securely  locked  every  night, 
it  being  a  penal  offence  for  a  Jew  to  be  found  at 
large  in  the  city  after  nightfall. 


CHAPTER  XYII. 

PISA  AND  ITS  LEANING  TOWER— GENOA,  THE  BIRTHPLACE  OF 
COLUMBUS-THE  BATTLE-FIELDS  OF  ITALY-TURIN-ARCADED 
STREETS. 

Cj^  JOURNEY  of  nine  hours  northward  along 
AS  the  shore  of  the  Mediterranean,  through 
\^  a  flat,  level,  malarial  country,  brings  us  to 
Pisa,  once  an  important  commercial  and  political 
center,  but  now  a  dead  old  place  with  only 
twenty-five  thousand  inhabitants,  but  house  room 
enough,  apparently,  for  twice  the  number.  It  is 
situated  near  the  mouth  of  the  Arno,  but  seems 
to  have  no  trade  left.  It  is  well  built,  and  boasts 
many  old  palaces,  but  its  only  attractions  to 
tourists  are  its  cathedral  and  leaning  tower.  The 
former  is  interesting  for  its  age  (built  1063),  for 
its  being  constructed  of  marble  throughout,  and 
for  its  columns  being  mostly  trophies  of  war 
plundered  from  temples*  and  other  buildings,  and 
therefore  very  diverse  in  size,  style  and  material. 
It  is  also  notable  for  being  the  church  in  which 
Galileo,  who  was  a  native  of  Pisa,  discovered  by 
the  swinging  of  a  chandelier,  the  principle  of  the 
pendulum.  The  same  chandelier  is  still  pointed 
out  to  visitors. 

151   - 


152  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

The  leaning  tower  is  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
nine  feet  high,  and  deflects  thirteen  feet  from  the 
perpendicular.  It  was  built  for,  and  still  serves, 
as  the  bell  tower  of  the  cathedral.  A  small  fee 
is  charged  for  ascending  it.  Like  the  cathedral, 
it  is  of  marble,  circular  in  form,  with  eight 
stories,  each  ornamented  with  arcades  of  semi- 
circular arches.  It  is  held  by  some  that  the 
tower  was  intentionally  built  with  an  incline  to 
the  south,  and  since  observing  some  of  the  eccen- 
tricities of  eleventh-century  architecture  in  Eng- 
land, I  can  half  believe  it  possible,  though  at  the 
time  of  seeing  it  the  impression  made  on  my  mind 
was  that  it  had  settled  into  its  present  position. 
The  leaning  tower  stands  just  east  of  the  cathe- 
dral. About  the  same  distance  west  is  the  Baptis- 
tery, a  circular  dome-covered  marble  building,  not 
unlike,  in  its  general  features,  the  Baptistery  at 
Florence.  A  few  rods  north  of  this  trio  of  stately 
eight  century- old  buildings,  is  the  Campo  Santo, 
or  burying-ground  of  Pisa.  It  is  rectangular  in 
form,  and  surrounded  by.  a  high  wall  and  broad 
and  lofty  arcade  or  cloister,  under  the  shelter  of 
which  most  of  the  monuments  are  placed;  The 
walls  of  this  cloister  also  contain  some  curious 
and  interesting  old  mediaeval  frescoes — interest- 
ing as  illustrating  the  theology  of  the  period  with 
respect  to  death,  hell,  and  the  final  judgment. 
That  the  soil  in  which  the  good  Pisans  of  the 


AN  ITALIAN  CEMETERY.  *    153 

middle  ages  reposed  miglit  be  the  more  sacred, 
many  ship  loads  of  earth  were  brought  from  Pal- 
estine and  deposited  in  this  Campo  Santo.  It 
was  here,  by  the  way,  that  we  saw  our  first  Italian 
funeral.  The  coffin  was  carried  on  men's  shoul- 
ders, and  was  followed  only  by  a  bevy  of  priests 
and  acolytes  mumbling  a  sort  of  liturgy  as  they 
walked  at  a  brisk  pace  through  the  streets. 
Some  of  these  followers  were  dressed  in  gowns  of 
black  cambric,  and  wore  black  dominoes  or  veils 
over  their  faces,  with  holes  cut  for  their  eyes. 
When  the  procession  breaks  up,  these  masked 
individuals  circulate  through  the  city  begging  for 
money  for  masses  for  the  repose  of  the  soul  of 
the  deceased.  To  have  one  come  upon  you  sud- 
denly is  apt  to  unsettle  your  nerves  for  the  rest 
of  the  day,  so  unearthly  an  appearance  do  they 
present. 

In  the  eleventh  century  Pisa  was  an  independ- 
ent republic  and  an  important  military  power, 
and  took  a  leading  part  in  the  crusades  against 
the  Turk.  Later,  her  lieets  ruled  the  seas,  but  in 
the  twelfth  century  she  suffered  a  fatal  defeat 
at  the  hands  of  her  commercial  rival,  Genoa, 
and  two  centuries  later  was  conquered  by  and 
annexed  to  the  then  independent  republic  of 
Florence. 

From  Pisa  to  Genoa  the  railroad  continues  to 
hug  the  shore  of  the  Mediterranean,  but  as  the 


154    •  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

Apennine  range  does  the  same,  and  as  the  moun- 
tains often  rise  directly  from  the  water' s  edge,  the 
work  of  constructing  the  line,  as  may  be  fancied, 
was  a  difficult  one.  Between  Pisa  and  Genoa 
there  are  over  eighty  tunnels,  and  many  of  them 
quite  long.  For  a  considerable  part  of  the  way 
we  are  under  ground  by  far  the  greater  part  of 
the  time.  Where  we  do  catch  a  glimpse  of  the 
country  it  is  very  beautiful,  olives,  figs,  oranges 
and  lemons  growing  in  great  abundance,  and  the 
blue  Mediterranean  as  smooth  as  glass,  stretch- 
ing away  to  our  left. 

Genoa,  the  leading  commercial  port  of  Italy,  is 
built  in  the  form  of  a  crescent,  encircling  its  fine 
harbor.  Hills  and  mountains  lie  behind  it,  and 
the  houses  extend  far  up  their  slopes.  So  limited 
is  the  si3ace  available  for  building,  that  the 
streets,  except  a  few  of  the  newer  ones,  are  very 
narrow — mere  lanes  eight  or  ten  feet  wide,  and 
the  houses  are  run  up  to  extraordinary  heights, 
seven,  eight  and  nine  stories  being  quite  common. 
The  only  garden  space  is  on  the  roofs,  and  we 
frequently  see  a  mass  of  green  enshrouding  the 
cornice  and  roof  of  a  lofty  structure.  Genoa^as 
many  fine  old  palaces,  but  no  antique  remains  or 
any  edifices  of  especial  note.  The  bay  is  filled 
with  shipping,  but  owing  to  the  shallowness  of 
the  water,  cargoes  have  to  be  landed  by  the  aid 
of  lighters.     Along  the  water's  edge  is  a  row  of 


GENOA.  155 

massive  stone  warehouses,  and  on  their  summit 
is  a  beautiful  esplanade  or  grand  terrace  paved 
with  stones.  It  is  over  fifty  feet  wide  and  several 
hundred  long,  and  commands  a  fine  view  of  the 
harbor.  Genoa,  once  an  independent  republic, 
was  long  a  bitter  contestant  with  Pisa  and  Venice 
for  the  naval  and  commercial  supremacy  of  the 
Mediterranean.  It  was  at  Genoa  that  Christo- 
pher Columbus  was  born  in  1435  or  1436,  and  a 
fine  marble  monument  to  his  memory,  is  seen 
near  the  railway  station. 

Leaving  Genoa,  we  again  have  to  cross  the 
Apennines,  a  comparatively  inconsiderable  range 
at  this  point,  our  greatest  altitude  being  about 
twelve  hundred  feet.  We  then  descend  to  the 
fertile  plains  of  Sardinia,  or  Piedmont,  drained 
by  the  river  Po  which  flows  eastwardly  into  the 
Adriatic.  The  valley  of  the  Po  is  formed  by  the 
Alps  on  the  north  and  the  Apennines  on  the 
south,  and  constitutes  a  broad  and  fertile  plain 
extending  entirely  across  the  northern  part  of 
Italy. 

On  the  route  between  Genoa  and  Milan  via 
Turin,  we  pass  several  important  battle  fields, 
including  that  of  Marengo,  where  Napoleon  I. 
won  his  decisive  victory  over  the  Austrians  after 
his  famous  passage  of  the  Alps  in  June,  1800; 
Novi,  where  the  year  previous  the  French  had 
been  terribly  defeated  by  the  Austrians  and  Eus- 


156  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

sians  ;  Novara,  where  the  Sardinians  were  badly- 
defeated  by  the  Austrians  in  1849 ;  and  Magenta, 
where  Napoleon  III.  and  Victor  Emmanuel  so 
totally  defeated  the  Austrians  in  1859  that  they 
were  compelled  to  abandon  their  possession  of 
northern  Italy.  A  grand  monument  marks  the 
scene  of  the  latter  achievement. 

Turin,  the  late  capital  of  the  little  kingdom  of 
Sardinia,  which  within  the  past  twenty  years  has 
expanded  into  the  kingdom  of  Italy,  is  a  fine 
modern  city  of  over  two  hundred  thousand  inhab- 
itants. It  is  laid  out  with  Philadelphia  regular- 
ity, with  streets  of  good  width,  and  several  hand- 
some squares,  or  piazzas,  as  they  call  them,  orna- 
mented with  equestrian  statues.  Street  railways 
are  fully  introduced,  and  they  even  use  steam 
as  a  motive  power  with  success.  In  Turin  we 
again  come  upon  the  practice  of  building  the 
houses  with  arcades  covering  the  sidewalks,  but 
here  they  are  much  more  imposing  than  in  the 
other  cities  we  have  seen,  being  broad,  and 
extending  up  two  full  stories  in  height,  and  uni- 
form in  construction  for  whole  blocks  together. 
The  shops  are  well  stocked  and  make  a  fine 
appearance.  Turin  is  undoubtedly  the  finest 
modern  city  in  Italy. 

Talking  of  arcades,  I  wonder  the  system  of 
covered  sidewalks  has  never  been  introduced  into 
America,  where  the  shade  would  be  so  agreeable 


ARCADED  STREETS.  157 

in  our  hot  summers  and  the  freedom  from  ice  and 
snow  so  advantageous  in  winter.  Fancy  a  lead- 
ing street  with  long  rows  of  columns  or  brick 
piers  extending  along  the  line  of  the  curbstone, 
with  arches  spanning  the  intervals  at  thfe  level  of 
the  second  story  ceilings,  and  between  this  colon- 
nade and  the  line  of  the  houses  a  vaulted  ceiling, 
covering  the  sidewalk.  Above  this  there  might 
be  an  open  terrace,  or,  what  is  more  usual  in  Italy 
and  Paris,  is  for  the  upper  stories  of  the  houses  to 
be  built  out  to  the  line  of  the  curbstone.  Where 
built  uniformly,  such  arcades  have  a  very  pleasing 
effect,  and  naturally  attract  custom  to  the  stores 
fronting  upon  them.  Such  an  experiment  was 
once  tried  on  Regent  street  in  London,  but  it 
did  not  answer  there  owing  to  the  fog  and  dark- 
ness of  that  city,  which,  for  the  abutting  stores, 
the  arcade  intensified.  It  would  be  different, 
however,  with  our  bright  American  atmosphere. 
But  it  is  nevertheless  best  adapted  for  streets 
where  the  stores  are  not  of  great  depth,  and,  by 
the  way,  I  am  convinced  that  the  public  good 
would  be  promoted  if  there  were  more  small 
stores,  and  if  business  were  less  concentrated  into 
the  hands  of  a  few  large  concerns.  In  Europe,  if 
a  lady  wants  a  parasol,  she  does  not  go  to  a  mam- 
moth dry  goods  house  to  select  one,  but  to  a  little 
store,  perhaps  twenty  feet  square,  where  nothing 
but  umbrellas  and  parasols  are  sold,  and  where, 


158  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

of  course,  a  superior  assortment  is  kept.  So 
every  other  branch  is  subdivided.  The  number 
of  independent  businesses  is  increased;  men  of 
small  capital  can  do  business  successfully  because 
they  do*  not  have  to  carry  such  multifarious 
stocks ;  landlords  are  benefited  by  the  wider 
distribution  of  trade,  and  the  public,  not  only  by 
the  better  assortments  that  are  possible,  but  by 
not  having  to  go  long  distances  to  the  center  of 
the  city  to  do  their  trading. 

Just  out  of  Turin  a  few  miles  is  a  magnificent 
hill  sixteen  hundred  feet  high,  known  as  the 
Superga,  from  the  summit  of  which  a  rare  view 
of  the  plains  of  Savoy,  studded  with  cities  and 
villages,  is  obtained.  It  was  from  the  top  of  this 
hill  that  one  of  the  dukes  of  Savoy  viewed  a 
battle  on  the  plains  below,  between  his  own  troops 
and  an  invading  army,  and,  as  the  legend  goes, 
made  a  vow  that  if  his  forces  were  victorious  he 
would,  on  that  summit  erect  a  worthy  temple  to 
the  Virgin.  The  church  was  duly  built,  with 
accompanying  monastery,  and  has  since  formed  a 
sort  of  ducal  mausoleum.  It  is  one  of  the  sights 
of  Turin,  and  the  walk  to  it  affords  a  rare  bit  of 
exercise.     Ladies  make  the  ascent  on  donkeys. 


CHAPTER  XYin. 

»  - 

MILAN— ITS  CATHEDRAL-THE  GALLERIE-DA  VINCI'S  LAST  SUP- 
PER-THE  ITALIAN  EXPOSITION— SAN  CARLO  AND  THE  BOR- 
ROMEAN  ISLES. 

ETWEEN  Turin  and  Milan  the  country  is 
very    level,    the    predominating    feature 
being    the    extensive    rice  fields    flooded 
with  water  by  artificial  means.  . 

Milan,  like  Turin,  is  essentially  a  modern  city. 
Upon  its  emancipation  from  Austrian  rule  some- 
thing over  twenty  years  ago,  a  spirit  of  enterprise 
was  awakened,  which  to  this  day  has  kept  it  in 
the  front  rank,  among  Italian  cities,  for  commer- 
cial thrift  and  progressiveness.  It  has  about  two 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  inhabitants,  exten- 
sive canal  and  railroad  connections,  and  no  insig- 
nificant manufacturing  interests.  It  is  best 
known  to  the  world  through  its  cathedral,  the 
third  largest  church  in  Europe  and  probably  the 
most  elaborately  ornate  of  any.  The  latter  is 
built  of  marble  and  granite  from  foundation  to 
summit,  the  closest  scrutiny  discovering  in  the 
structure  itself  neither  brick  nor  timber.  In  this 
respect  it  is  the  most  complete  piece  of  mason 
work  I  have  yet  seen.      The  roofs  of  other  great 

159 


160  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

churclies  are  more  or  less  covered  with  lead; 
this  is  entirely  roofed  with  slabs  of  marble.  In 
another  respect  it  is  unique:  so  complete  is 
the  ornamentation  that  no  diiference  is  made  in 
the  richness  of  the  sculptured  work  between 
those  portions  prominently  exposed  to  view  and 
portions  entirely  hidden,  where  the  question  of 
symmetry  at  all  enters  in.  Every  pinnacle  is 
surmounted  by  a  statue  in  marble,  and  these, 
with  the  statues  occupying  niches,  bring  the 
whole  number  displayed  on  the  exterior  up 
to  two  thousand.  But  with  all  its  magnitude, 
richness  of  ornamentation  and  conscientious 
workmanship,  it  has  faults  which  every  one 
familiar  with  it  through  photographs  or  engrav- 
ings will  appreciate.  Its  ground  plan  is  so  large 
that,  notwithstanding  the  nave  is  one  hundred 
and  fifty-five  feet  high,  the  whole  building  has, 
in  contrast  with  Cologne  and  the  best  English 
cathedrals,  a  decided  appearance  of  flatness,  and 
the  tower,  though  three  hundred  and  sixty  feet 
high,  looks  insignificantly  small  on  so  large  a 
church.  It  should  have  been  at  least  five  hun- 
dred feet  high,  and  have  tapered  much  more 
gradually.  Then,  too,  the  external  ornament  in 
the  shape  of  delicateh^  sculptured  marble  pin- 
nacles, flying  buttresses,  screens,  parapets,  etc., 
is  decidedly  overdone,  and  considerably  detracts 
from  the  dignity  and  grandeur  of  the  building. 


THE  GALLERIE  VITTORIO  EMANUELE.         161 

The  interior  is  less  open  to  criticism,  and  if  tlie 
vaulted  ceiling  were  really  perforated  stone  work, 
instead  of  painted  imitation,  it  would  perhaps  be ' 
unsurpassed  for  beauty  among  the  great  Gothic 
churches  of  Europe.  Altogether  it  is  certainly  a 
beautiful  thing,  but,  artistically,  far  inferior  to 
the  cathedral  of  Cologne. 

Next  to  its  cathedral  the  pride  of  Milan  is  its 
Gallerie  Yittorio  Emanuele,  the  finest  arcade  in 
the  world.  Fancy  two  intersecting  streets,  each 
forty -eight  feet  wide  and  five  hundred  or  six 
hundred  feet  long,  lined  with  elegant  five-story 
stores,  and  entirely  roofed  in  with  glass  at  a 
height  of  ninety-four  feet  from  the  marble  pave- 
ment. The  two  streets  form  a  cross,  and  at  their 
intersection  is  an  immense  glass  dome,  octagonal 
in  shape  and  one  hundred  and  eighty  feet  high. 
The  buildings  are  ornamented  with  statues  and 
brilliantly  lighted  in  the  evening,  when  half 
Milan  assembles  there  for  a  promenade.  Most  of 
the  best  stores  in  the  lines  of  jewelry,  fancy  goods, 
statuary,  pictures,  books,  music,  confectioneries, 
etc.,  with  a  number  of  cafes,  are  assembled  here, 
and  it  has  become  the  great  center  of  the  best 
retail  trade  of  the  place.  The  Gallerie  was  com- 
pleted about  three  years  ago.  Of  course  it  is 
not  a  thoroughfare  for  vehicles. 

Another  special  pride  of  this  ambitious  little 

city  is  its  cemetery.      Milan  is  famous  for  its 
11 


162  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

marble  sculpture,  and  naturally  the  cemetery  is 
exceedingly  rich  in  beautiful  monuments  and 
elegant  private  vaults.  There  are  also  very 
extensive  public  vaults  and  spacious  arcades  for 
cenotaphs  and  tablets.  This  cemetery  is  also 
provided  with  a  crematory  furnace,  which  is  in 
regular  use,  Milan  leading  all  other  cities  in  its 
practical  adoption  of  the  plan  of  thus  disposing 
of  the  dead. 

There  is  one  other  thing  for  which  Milan  is 
famous,  viz.,  its  possession  of  Leonardo  da  Vin- 
ci's famous  picture  of  The  Last  Supper.  Every 
one  is  familiar  with  it  through  prints — with  its 
long  table  formed  of  boards  supported  on  carpen- 
ters' horses,  and  the  Saviour  in  the  center  with 
six  disciples  on  either  side  of  him,  all  facing  the 
spectator.  It  is  reckoned  Leonardo's  greatest 
work.  We  went  to  see  it.  It  is  in  the  refectory 
or  dining-room  of  an  old  monastery  connected 
with  the  ancient  abbey  church  of  St.  Maria  delle 
Grazie.  We  pay  a  franc  for  admission.  The 
picture  occupies  the  entire  width  of  one  end  of 
the  room,  and  is  painted  on  the  plastered  wall  in 
oil  colors.  As  Da  Vinci  died  in  1519 — three  hun- 
dred and  sixty-two  years  ago — it  may  be  readily 
fancied  the  picture  is  in  an  advanced  state  of 
decay.  In  fact,  very  little  can  be  seen  but  the 
positions  of  the  figures — the  expressions  must  be 
in  great  part  conjectured.      When  new,  however, 


THE  LAST  SUPPER.  163 

it  must  have  been  a  very  grand  picture.  With 
this  conviction  we  have  to  be  content,  so  faded 
are  the  colors  and  chipped  and  broken  the  plas- 
ter. I  fancy  with  another  generation  or  two  it 
will  have  become  altogether  a  thing  of  the  past. 
We  hapi)ened  to  be  in  Milan  during  the  pro- 
gress of  the  great  Italian  Exposition  held  there 
through  the  summer  of  1881.  It  was  gotten  up 
by  the  enterprise  of  Milanese  capitalists,  aided 
by  a  liberal  appropriation  made  by  the  national 
government.  Very  extensive  buildings  were 
erected  for  its  accommodation,  and  every  way  the 
Exposition  was  a  great  success,  and  gave  tourists 
a  better  idea  of  the  resources  and  industrial  con- 
dition of  Italy  than  could  have  been  gained  in 
any  other  way.  In  paintings  and  sculpture  the 
exposition  hardly  came  up  to  what  I  should  have 
expected  of  a  country  the  nursery  of  art,  but  the 
evidences  of  mechanical  progress  were  very  cred- 
itable. Italy  turns  out  as  handsome  steam 
engines  and  other  machinery  as  we  can  build  in 
America,  though  it  costs  more  to  produce  them. 
In  optical  and  mathematical  instruments  and  sci- 
entific apparatus  she  always  excelled.  In  every- 
thing pertaining  to  building,  except  woodwork 
and  builders'  hardware,  they  are  in  advance  of 
us  ;  in  agricultural  machinery  far  behind.  One 
of  the  most  interesting  departments,  and  one 
fully  represented,  was  the  culture  and  manufac- 


164  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

ture  of  silk,  all  the  processes,  from  the  incnbat- 
ing  of  the  silk  worms'  eggs  to  the  weaving  of  the 
richest  satin  damask,  being  seen  in  full  operation. 
The  wine  and  honey  industries  also  occupied 
considerable  space.  Cremation  was  exemplified 
in  models  of  furnaces,  glass  jars  showing  the 
remains  of  numerous  subjects,  and  an  assortment 
of  modern  cinerary  urns. 

Just  as  Leipsic  is  the  most  famous  place  in  the 
world  for  education  in  instrumental  music,  so  is 
Milan  for  vocal  culture.  It  is  the  Mecca  of  all 
great  singers. 

Milan  has  a  very  precious  treasure,  in  a  chapel 
under  the  choir  of  her  cathedral,  in  the  bones  of 
St.  Carlo.  San  Carlo  Borromeo  was  born  in  1538. 
He  was  a  nephew  of  pope  Pius  IV.,  who  was 
somewhat  given  to  nepotism,  and  who  made  Carlo 
Archbishop  of  Milan  and  a  cardinal,  when  but 
twenty-two  years  of  age.  Unlike  most  men  thus 
favored,  the  young  prelate  laid  himself  out  to 
merit  his  promotion,  and  by  austerity  of  life  and 
severe  labors  he  brought  himself  to  an  untimely 
grave  when  but  forty-six.  Soon  it  was  found 
that  miracles  were  worked  at  his  tomb,  and  ulti- 
mately, in  1616,  he  was  canonized  and  became 
Saint  Carlo.  He  is  the  patron  saint  of  all  the 
region  around  Milan.  In  the  city  itself,  besides 
his  splendid  shrine,  there  is  a  large  church  dedi- 
cated to  him,  and  at  Arona,  on  a  hill  overlooking 


THE  BORROMEAN  ISLES.  165 

Lake  Maggiore,  is  a  colossal  bronze  statue  of  tlie 
reverend  gentleman  seventy  feet  high,  on  a  pedes- 
tal of  forty  feet. 

A  few  miles  up  Lake  Maggiore  from  Arona 
are  the  Borromean  isles,  the  property  of  the  same 
family  to  which  St.  Carlo  belonged,  which  still 
maintains  its  name  and  identity.  The  principal 
islands  are  Isola  Bella  and  Isola  Madre,  both 
originally  mere  rocks  rising  above  the  surface  of 
the  lake,  but  two  centuries  ago  transformed  by 
artificial  terraces  and  imported  soil,  into  the  love- 
liest of  gardens.  Upon  each  island  a  palace  was 
erected,  and  trees  and  shrubs  for  the  grounds 
were  brought  from  all  parts  of  the  world.  The 
present  appearance  of  the  islands,  rising  out  of 
the  water  in  a  succession  of  arcades  and  terraces, 
reminds  one  very  much  of  the  fanciful  pictures 
sometimes  seen  on  the  drop  curtains  of  theatres. 

Arona  is  a  small  village  at  the  foot  of  Lake 
Maggiore,  two  hours'  ride  north  of  Milan.  It  is 
the  Italian  terminus  of  the  carriage  road  across 
the  Simplon  pass,  and  here  we  bid  adieu  to  Italy. 

Many  of  the  hotels  in  Italy  were  formerly  old 
palaces,  and  the  rooms  are  spacious  and  elegant. 
All  Italian  buildings  are  very  substantially  con- 
structed. The  stairs  and  landings  are  almost 
universally  of  stone,  and  houses  are  commonly 
built  without  joists  or  other  woodwork  in  the 
floors,  the  walls  being  made  very  heavy,  with  a 


166  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

flat  arch  of  brick  springing  from  each  side  of  the 
room  and  meeting  in  a  point  at  the  center.  The 
haunches  are  filled  up  with  Portland  cement  con- 
crete, and  a  concrete  or  tile  floor  is  finally  finished 
for  the  room  above.  A  style  of  floor  very  much, 
in  use  in  Italy  is  made  of  a  concrete  of  Portland 
cement  and  various  colored  marbles  in  irregular 
pieces,  from  the  size  of  a  dime  to  that  of  a  quar- 
ter-dollar, polished  to  a  smooth  surface.  Some- 
times the  different  colors  are  kept  separate  and 
laid  in  patterns. 

The  Italians  are  also  splendid  railroad  builders. 
Rarely  is  finer  constructive  engineering  to  be 
seen  than  some  of  the  Italian  roads  display. 
Railroad  travel  is  cheap  in  Italy.  First  class 
fares  are  about  three  and  a  half  cents  a  mile ; 
second  class,  two  and  a  half  cents ;  third  class, 
one  and  three-fourths  cents.  Their  second  class  is 
superior  in  comfort  to  our  first. 

The  money  of  account  in  Italy  is  the  lira,  which 
is  identical  in  value  with  the  franc  of  France  and 
Belgium.  Like  the  franc,  it  is  divided  into  one 
hundred  centesimi.  Five  centesimi  make  a  soldo, 
or  sou,  equivalent  to  our  cent.  An  irredeemable 
p^iper  currency  forms  the  sole  circulating  medium 
(0>f  Italy,  and  it  ranges  from  one  and  a  half  to 
three  per  cent  discount  as  compared  with  silver. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE  PICTURE  GALLERIES  OP  EUROPE— THE  OVER-ESTIMATE  OF 
THE  OLD  MASTERS  — NOTICES  OF  SOME  OF  THE  ITALIAN 
MASTERS  AND  THEIR  WORKS  — THE  TWO  GREAT  SPANISH 
PAINTERS. 

ITH  every  traveler  in  Italy,  the  art  collec- 
tions of  that  country  rank  among  the 
foremost  of  its  attractions,  and  yet,  I 
fancy,  but  comparatively  few  fully  appreciate 
and  enjoy  them.  Most  tourists  visit  the  galleries 
because  they  are  set  down  in  the  guide  books  as 
principal  attractions,  and  because  everybody  else 
visits  them,  but  I  am  vastly  mistaken  if  they  do 
not  inwardly  vote  them  a  bore.  It  is  certainly 
a  very  laborious  occupation ;  for  standing  about 
looking  at  pictures  for  hours  together  is  far  more 
tiring  than  even  brisk  walking.  Then  the  char- 
acter of  the  pictures,  too,  is  not  usually  such 
as  would  be  fascinating  to  a  person  of  ordinary 
tastes.  Mythological  and  religious  subjects  pre- 
dominate, and  in  a  great  majority  of  cases  they 
are  handled  in  a  fanciful  and  extravagant  man- 
ner that  has  few  charms  for  the  hard-headed 
realist  of  the  present  day.  I  am  referring  now  to 
the  paintings  of  the  media3val  period.      Madon- 

167 


168  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

nas  greatly  abound,  but  comparatively  few  of 
them  would  be  set  down  by  the  average  observer 
as  models  of  female  beauty.  Other  favorite  sub- 
jects are  the  martyrdoms  of  the  saints,  and  sen- 
sational, revolting  subjects  they  most  usually  are. 
St.  Sebastian  is  perhaps  the  most  frequently 
depicted,  bound  nude  to  a  tree,  with  his  body 
stuck  full  of  arrows,  like  pins  in  a  pin-cushion. 
St.  Lawrence  comes  next,  in  condition  of  being 
broiled  on  a  gridiron  and  prodded  with  tridents, 
as  a  cook  fumbles  over  the  broiling  steak  with 
her  fork.  When  we  come  to  bible  scenes,  which 
of  course  are  very  numerous,  we  see  little  or  no 
attempt  to  reproduce  the  ancient  and  oriental, 
either  in  landscape,  architecture,  dress,  or  any 
other  accessories.  Patriarchs  and  prophets  will 
be  pictured  in  middle-age  Italian  costume,  and 
Corinthian  architecture  be  introduced  in  connec- 
tion with  the  rudest  and  most  barbarous  i)eriods 
of  scripture  history.  So,  too,  not  infrequently 
the  painter  utterly  fails  properly  to  interpret  his 
subject,  as  when  a  feast  is  almost  invariably  rep- 
resented as  a  debauch.  Still,  there  must  be  some 
real  merit  in  these  old  paintings,  or  students  and 
connoisseurs  could  not  so  dote  on  them;  but  I 
am  strongly  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  very 
much  of  the  reverence  with  which  the  so-called 
old  masters  are  regarded,  is  factitious  and  unmer- 
ited.   Well  authenticated  works  of  the  early  Ital- 


MEDIEVAL  ART.  169 

ian  painters  of  note  are  of  course  limited  in  num- 
ber, and  in  the  strife  of  collectors  for  possession 
of  them  their  value  has  become  enormously  infla- 
ted, and,  being  valued  at  extravagant  figures  it 
is  only  natural  that  people  should  come  to  believe 
them  possessed  of  extraordinary  merit.  I  go 
farther  and  assert  as  a  plain,  common  sense, 
unprejudiced  observer,  that  I  believe  that  as  good 
pictures  are  painted  in  the  nineteenth  century  as 
any  the  fifteenth  or  sixteenth  centuries  produced. 
And  why  should  there  not  be?  The  world  has 
made  wonderful  progress  in  all  other  branches  of 
intellectual  and  aesthetic  culture ;  and  with  all  the 
attention  that  the  present  age  has  given  to  art, 
with  the  unprecedented  opportunities  for  study 
and  the  wealth  that  is  lavished  on  works  of  high 
merit,  is  it  reasonable  to  suppose  that  in  painting 
alone,  we  have  so  sadly  retrograded  ? 

It  is,  nevertheless,  interesting  and  profitable  to 
see  and  study  the  works  that,  whether  justly  or 
not,  are  so  much  prized,  and  to  know  something 
of  their  authors.  The  number  of  old  Italian  mas- 
ters is  very  large  and  a  list  of  them  would  be 
tedious  and  unprofitable;  but  there  are  some 
twenty-five  or  more,  whose  names  and  works  soon 
become  familiar  to  the  traveler  in  Europe,  and 
these  may  be  noticed  here  as  a  very  slight  intro- 
duction to  an  acquaintance  with  Italian  art. 

Not  quite  the  oldest  painter  known  but  still 


170  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

one  regarded  as  the  father  of  Italian  painting,  was 
Cimabue,  who  was  born  in  Florence  in  1240.  In 
his  day  oil  colors  had  not  come  into  use,  but  the 
pigments  were  mixed  with  glue  or  size  and  laid 
on  wood  instead  of  canvas.  All  the  earlier  paint- 
ings were  executed  on  gold  grounds.  They  were 
almost  exclusively  confined  to  religious  subjects 
and,  compared  with  the  works  of  later  artists, 
have  a  stiff  and  doll-like  appearance.  Artistic 
grouping  was  unknown  and  the  pictures  repre- 
sent but  little  more  than  a  collection  of  figures 
very  little  dependent  on  each  other. 

Cimabue  walking  in  the  fields  one  day  found  a 
shepherd  boy  drawing  pictures  in  the  sand  with  a 
stick.  He  thought  he  detected  genius  in  the  lad, 
took  him  into  his  studio  and  trained  him.  In 
time  the  pupil,  whose  name  was  Giotto  and  who 
was  born  in  1276,  far  surpassed  his  master,  and 
his  remaining  works  are  perhaps  as  highly  prized 
as  those  of  any  other  painter.  Most  of  his  paint- 
ings are  frescoes,  that  is,  are  painted  on  plaster 
walls  in  water  colors,  and  hence  are  generally  in 
a  dilapidated  condition.  Even  the  unlearned  in 
art  will  quickly  discover  that  Griotto  was  far  in 
advance  of  the  painters  of  his  age  in  the  life-like 
naturalness  of  his  figures  and  groups.  Besides 
being  a  great  painter  he  was  the  architect  of  the 
cathedral  at  Florence,  as  related  in  a  former 
chapter. 


THE  EARLIER  ITALIAN  PAINTERS.  171 

The  next  great  painter  was  Fra  Angelico,  a 
monk  of  the  convent  of  St.  Mark  at  Florence,  tke 
cells  of  whicli  he  decorated  with  frescoes  still  in 
an  excellent  state  of  j)reservation.  Fra  Angelico 
was  born  in  1387.  He  was  a  most  prolific  painter, 
most  of  his  works  being  religions  scenes  embrac- 
ing a  great  number  of  figures  of  small  size,  bnt  all 
most  exquisitely  drawn  and  a  character  depicted 
in  every  countenance.  We  greatly  admired  the 
little  gems  of  art  that  the  good  monk  was  so  facile 
in  turning  out. 

Bellini,  born  in  1422,  was  the  founder  of  what 
is  known  as  the  Venetian  school,  and  the  master 
of  Titian,  the  greatest  of  the  Venetian  painters. 

Then  came  Mantegna  of  Padua,  who  was  born 
in  1431.  He  was  noted  for  the  laborious  fidelity 
with  which  his  pictures  were  worked  up,  but  they 
are  nevertheless  strongly  marked  with  the  crude- 
ness  of  the  early  painters. 

Next  may  be  mentioned  Perugino,  who  enjoys 
the  honor  of  being  regarded  as  the  master  of 
Eaphael,  the  greatest  of  all  painters.  Perugino 
was  born  in  1446. 

We  now  come  to  the  five  pre-eminently  great 
Italian  painters:  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  1452-1519 ; 
Michel  Angelo,  1474-1563;  Titian,  1477-1576; 
Raphael,  1483-1520,  and  Correggio,  1494-1534. 

Leonardo  da  Vinci  was  born  in  Vinci  on  the 
Arno,  near  Florence.     He  was  a  universal  genius, 


172  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

being  equally  talented  as  a  painter,  an  arcliitect, 
a  sculptor,  and  an  engineer  and  scientist.  At  the 
age  of  thirty  he  accepted  a  position  in  the  service 
of  the  Duke  of  Milan,  and  in  that  city  he  accom- 
plished his  greatest  works.  His  famous  painting 
of  The  Last  Supper,  one  of  the  greatest  pictures 
of  all  ages,  has  already  been  described.  His  other 
pictures  are  not  numerous,  and  being  greatly 
darkened  with  age  are  not  particularly  attractive 
to  the  non-professional. 

Michel  Angelo,  like  Da  Yinci,  was  a  man  of 
rare  and  diversified  talents.  He  also  was  a  Tus- 
can by  birth.  From  the  age  of  fourteen  to  twen- 
ty-six he  devoted  himself  to  sculpture,  producing 
during  that  period  his  colossal  statue  of  David, 
now  in  the  Academy  of  Art  at  Florence,  and 
others  of  his  most  famous  works  in  marble.  For 
the  next  thirteen  years  he  was  engaged  chiefly  in 
fresco  painting,  his  principal  production  being 
the  ceiting  of  the  Sistine  chapel  in  the  Vatican, 
heretofore  mentioned.  Then  he  took  up  architec- 
ture, ending  his  career  as  the  principal  builder  of 
the  church  of  St.  Peter  at  E,ome,  and  the  designer 
of  its  splendid  dome.  He  left  few  or  no  paint- 
ings in  oil. 

Titian  was  a  Venetian  and  a  painter  only.  The 
greatest  collection  of  his  works  is  at  Venice, 
though  a  great  many  are  found  in  Spain,  where 
he  probably  resided  for  a  time  under  the  patron- 


RAPHAEL.  173 

age  of  the  emperor  Charles  Y.  His  paintings  are 
quite  numerous,  but  are  not  attractive,  commonly- 
presenting  great  masses  of  dark  color  with  only  a 
small  portion  distinguishable  as  a  picture. 

Strictly  as  a  painter,  Raphael  is  accounted  the 
greatest  of  the  ^ve.  He  was  born  at  Urbino,  a 
place  one  hundred  and  thirty  miles  north  of 
Rome,  and  seventy  east  of  Florence.  After  resid- 
ing eight  years  at  Perugia  and  four  at  Florence, 
he  settled  at  Rome  where  he  spent  the  remainder 
of  his  short  life,  dying  at  the  early  age  of  thirty- 
seven.  Among  his  most  famous  works  are  the 
*' Stanzas,"  or  pontifical  dwelling  rooms  in  the 
Vatican,  the  frescoed  walls  of  which  vie  with  the 
ceiling  of  the  Sistine  Chapel  for  the  pre-eminence 
as  the  grandest  mural  paintings  extant.  One  of 
his  most  notable  oil  paintings  is  his  Transfigura- 
tion, in  which  the  upper  portion  of  the  picture 
represents  the  scene  on  the  mount,  while  the 
lower  portion  depicts  the  disciples  at  the  foot  of 
the  eminence,  endeavoring  to  cast  out  the  devil 
from  the  lunatic  lad.  This  picture  hangs  in  the 
Vatican.  Another  of  his  masterpieces  is  St. 
Cecilia,  in  the  Academy  at  Bologna.  In  this  the 
tuneful  saint  is  represented  in  a  rapture  of  bliss, 
with  her  broken  musical  instruments  at  her  feet 
and  a  choir  of  angels  overhead  taking  up  the 
strain  she  has  just  been  playing.  On  either  side 
of  her  stand  St.  Paul,  St.  John,  St.  Augustine, 


174  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

and  Mary  Magdalene,  wrapped  in  contemplation. 
Still  others  are  his  famous  series  of  seven  car- 
toons, copies  of  which  are  so  familiar  to  every 
reader.  The  originals,  belonging  to  the  British 
government,  are  exhibited  at  the  South  Kensing- 
ton Museum  in  London.  Then  the  visitor  of  the 
great  galleries  of  Europe  will  be  struck  with  a 
magnificent  portrait  of  Pope  Julius  II.,  which 
Baphael  painted  in  triplicate,  two  copies  being  at 
Florence  and  the  other  at  the  National  Gallery  in 
London.  His  Madonnas  are  very  numerous,  and 
some  of  them  are  among  his  most  esteemed 
works,  but  with  few  exceptions  his  Virgins  wear 
a  sleepy  look  which  detracts  very  much  from  our 
modern  idea  of  beauty. 

Correggio,  the  fifth  of  the  famous  quintette,  was 
a  native  of  the  province  of  Modena.  His  greatest 
works  are  the  frescoes  in  the  cathedral  at  Parma, 
but  oil  paintings  of  his  are  moderately  numerous, 
and  are  found  in  all  the  principal  galleries.  The 
story  of  Correggio' s  death  has  often  been  told. 
He  had  painted  an  altar  piece  for  a  monastery  at 
Parma,  and  the  monks,  for  a  trick,  or  for  spite,  or 
to  humiliate  him,  paid  him  off  in  copper  coin. 
The  labor  involved  in  carrying  home  his  heavy 
burden  brought  on  a  fever,  which  carried  him  to 
his  grave  at  the  early  age  of  forty. 

The  fifteenth  century  produced  in  Florence  two 
admirable  painters,  Fra  Bartolommeo,  a  monk  of 


THE  ITALIAN  MASTERS.  175 

St.  Mark's  convent,  born  1469,  and  Andrea  del 
Sarto,  born  1488.  Carlo  Dolci,  born  1616,  was 
also  a  Florentine. 

In  the  sixteenth  century  two  important  schools 
of  art  arose — the  Venetian  school,  numbering 
among  its  adherents  Bassano,  born  1510,  Tinto- 
retto, 1512,  and  Paul  Veronese,  1528;  and  the 
Bolognese,  of  which  Lodovico,  Agostino  and 
Annibale  Carracci,  two  brothers  and  a  cousin, 
born  respectively  in  1555,  1557,  and  1560,  Guido 
Keni,  1575,  and  Dominichino,  1581,  are  the  shin- 
ing lights.  Guido  has  a  world-wide  fame  from 
the  frequency  of  copies  of  his  portrait  of  Beatrice 
Cenci,  the  original  of  which  is  in  the  Barberini 
Palace  at  Rome,  and  for  his  Aurora.  The  latter 
is  a  fresco  in  one  of  the  palaces  at  Rome,  and  is 
regarded  as  his  finest  work. 

Classed  as  of  the  Roman  school  are  Gulio 
Romano,  1492,  and  Sassof errata,  1605.  Sal va tor 
Rosa,  1615,  was  a  Neapolitan  painter,  and  Can- 
aletto,  1697,  a  Venetian.  The  latter  was  very 
prolific  with  his  brush,  and  in  subject  and  tone 
all  his  pictures  are  very  much  alike,  being  almost 
exclusively  Venetian  canal  scenes,  and  all  utterly 
innocent  of  bright  colors. 

Two  celebrated  Spanish  painters  may  appropri- 
ately be  mentioned  here,  Velasquez  and  Murillo. 
The  former,  born  1599,  especially  excelled  in  por- 
traits, and  is  reputed  the  greatest  of  all  Spanish 


176  FIVE  MONTHS  ABEOAD. 

painters,  though  to  the  uninitiated  in  art  his 
works  are  not  by  any  means  particularly  attract- 
ive. This  however  cannot  be  said  of  Murillo,  born 
1618,  whose  pictures,  whether  of  homely  beggar 
boys  or  glorified  saints,  possess  a  grace  and 
beauty  that  no  one  can  be  insensible  to. 


KCX3K  HOMO,  AFTER  GUIDO  RBNI. 


CHAPTER  XX. 


AMONG   THE  ALPS -THE    SIMPLON    PASS  -  BRIEG  -  MARTIGNY- 
CHAMOUNIX  — MONT    BLANC  — A    GLACIER. 


Arena  we   take  the   dilio:eiice  at  eleven 


4t    ^^^ ^ a- 

Ml     o'clock  at  night,    so  as   to  get  over  the 

^  I  *  mountains  before  dark  next  day.  The 
diligence  is  a  heavy,  cumbersome  vehicle  drawn 
by  live  horses,  two  at  the  pole  and  three  abreast 
as  leaders,  each  wearing  a  string  of  sleigh  bells. 
Fancy  an  old-fashioned  stage  coach  with  half  the 
body  of  another  attached  in  front,  and  a  seat  with 
a  buggy  top  perched  up  behind.  The  baggage  is 
piled  on  the  roof  of  the  center  compartment 
which,  inside,  holds  four  persons.  The  driver  and 
guard  sit  over  the  front  section,  which  is  called 
the  coupe  and  which  holds  two  persons.  Under 
the  rear  seat,  known  as  the  banquette,  is  a  large 
locker  for  the  mails  and  small  parcels.  Seats  in 
the  coupe  and  banquette  are  preferred,  as  afford- 
ing a  better  view,  and  are  charged  for  extra.  The 
driver  devotes  himself  chiefly  to  cracking  his 
whip,  and  applying  the  brakes  at  the  down 
grades.  Horses  are  changed  every  ten  miles,  and 
well  they  need  to  be,  for  they  are  kept  on  a  brisk 
trot,  and  the  vehicle  and  loading  must  weigh 
several  tons. 

12 


178  » FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

The  road  from  Arona  to  Brieg,  over  the  Simp 
Ion,  is  seventy-five  miles  in  length,  forty  of  which 
lie  directly  through  the  mountains.  The  whole 
road  was  built  by  Napoleon  I.  between  1800  and 
1806,  as  a  military  road,  for  the  purpose  of  afford- 
ing the  French  armies  ready  access  into  Italy. 
It  cost  three  million  six  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars, half  of  which  was  paid  by  the  French  Gov- 
ernment and  half  by  the  Italian.  It  was  the 
second  carriage  road  across  the  Alps,  the  Bren- 
ner road  having  been  completed  some  time  before. 
It  is  a  beautiful  macadamized  highway,  about 
twenty-five  feet  wide  and  lined  at  intervals  of 
from  ten  to  twenty  feet  with  substantial  stone 
posts.  It  winds  along  the  sides  of  deep  gorges, 
traverses  rocky  ledges,  passes  over  numerous 
bridges  spanning  mountain  torrents,  and  through 
several  tunnels.  In  places  where  exposed  to  dan- 
ger from  avalanches,  it  is  roofed  over  with  a  stone 
vaulting,  through  which  water  percolates  like  rain. 
At  nine  or  ten  points  on  the  route  refuges  are 
maintained — substantial  stone  houses  in  which 
persons  are  constantly  in  attendance  to  relieve 
snow-bound  travelers  or  any  needing  help. 

After  leaving  Arona  the  road  skirts  the  shore 
of  Lake  Maggiore  for  a  dozen  miles,  then  follows 
the  valley  of  the  river  Tosa,  a  tributary  of  the 
lake.  Forty  miles  from  Arona  we  turn  up  a 
lateral  valley,  that  of  the  Dovera  river,  a  braw- 


THE  SIMPLON  PASS.  179 

ling  mountain  stream  capable  of  furnishing 
power  enough  for  all  the  machinery  in  half  a 
8tate.  Soon  a  granite  column  by  the  side  of  the 
road  indicates  the  boundary  line  between  Italy 
and  Switzerland.  At  the  next  stopping  place  a 
Swiss  custom  house  officer  inquires  of  each  pas- 
senger if  he  has  anything  to  "declare."  If  he 
replies  in  the  negative,  that  is  the  end  of  it.  It  is 
only  in  the  case  of  tobacco  and  cigars  that  they 
are  at  all  strict. 

We  now  ascend  mountain  gorges,  with  almost 
perpendicular  cliffs  rising  thousands  of  feet  on 
each  side  of  us.  At  last  we  are  ourselves  six 
thousand  six  hundred  feet  above  the  sea  and 
the  summit  of  the  pass  is  reached  ;  but  mountains 
still  tower  far  above  us,  their  tops  envelojped  with 
snow  and  half  hidden  by  clouds.  At  the  summit 
a  large  hospice,  kept  by  the  monks  of  St.  Ber- 
nard, is  located,  and  here  all  travelers  are  enter- 
tained gratuitously,  but  those  who  are  able  are 
expected  to  put  something  in  the  poor-box  of  the 
institution  for  the  support  of  the  house. 

All  along  the  road  thus  far  the  telegraph  poles 
have  been  square  strips  of  stone  sixteen  or 
eighteen  feet  high.  Stone  poles  are  also  used  for 
grape  trellises  in  the  valleys,  and  flat  slabs  of 
stone,  a  sort  of  mica  slate,  are  employed  univers- 
ally for  the  roofs  of  the  houses,  and  are  set  up  on 
edge  for  fences. 


180  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

The  descent  on  the  Swiss  side  of  the  mountains 
is  more  rapid  and  dangerous.  So  late  as  in  June 
we  pass  great  banks  of  snow  reaching  as  high  as 
the  top  of  the  diligence.  In  an  hour  and  a  half 
we  are  in  the  beautiful  valley  of  the  Rhone — a 
lovely  green  plain,  bordered  with  high  snow- 
capped mountains.  lu  the  center  stands  the 
pretty  little  Swiss  village  of  Brieg,  with  its  old 
chateau,  its  quaint  houses,  its  rustic  street  scenes 
and  its  clean  tidy  hotel. 

We  rest  a  night  at  Brieg,  and  then  take  the 
train  down  the  valley  of  the  Rhone  forty -eight 
miles  to  Martigny.  It  is  a  beautiful  ride.  The 
valley  is  of  nearly  uniform  width,  with  ranges  of 
mountains  on  either  side,  "  which  usually  rise 
abruptly  from  the  level  valley,  though  in  some 
places  their  bases  are  lost  in  beautiful  green 
slopes.  Villages  are  numerous  in  the  valley. 
The  Rhone  here  is  a  small  but  rapid  stream,  per- 
haps twenty  yards  wide,  but  is  liable  to  freshets 
which  inundate  the  country  and  do  much  dam- 
age. 

Martigny  is  a  small  village  at  a  point  where  the 
Rhone  makes  a  sudden  bend  to  the  northwest, 
twenty-four  miles  before  it  flows  into  Lake 
Geneva.  It  is  an  old-fashioned  place,  chiefly 
important  as  a  starting  point  for  mountain  excur- 
sions. Here  we  hire  a  small  pony  carriage, 
drawn  by  two  strong  horses,  to  convey  us  to 


THE  TETE  NOIR.  181 

Chamonnix,  twenty- two  miles  south.  The  route 
has  until  recently  been  only  a  bridle-path,  and  it 
still  would  be  impassable  to  anything  but  a  very 
small  vehicle.  For  those  who  are  ir  .  hampered 
with  baggage  the  road  from  Martigny  to  Chamou- 
nix  affords  a  good  opportunity  for  a  little  pedes- 
trianism,  the  scenery  being  very  wild  and  inter- 
esting, and  the  mountain  air  exhilarating.  By 
the  carriage  it  takes  nine  hours  to  make  the  trip. 
We  begin  by  ascending  the  mountain  ridge  at  the 
back  of  the  village  by  tiresome  zig-zag  slopes. 
We  are  fully  four  hours  in  getting  out  of  sight  of 
Martigny,  by  which  time  we  have  reached  an 
elevation  of  thirty-five  hundred  feet  above  the 
level  of  that  place,  or  five  thousand  above  the 
sea.  With  a  rough  and  stony  road,  as  may  be 
fancied,  the  ascent  is  a  tiresome  one,  but  upon 
looking  back,  the  view  up  the  Rhone  valley  for 
twenty  or  thirty  miles  is  most  beautiful,  and  goes 
far  toward  repaying  the  labors  of  the  journey. 

The  road  from  the  summit  to  Chamounix,  by 
what  is  known  as  the  Tete  Noir  route,  is  a  suc- 
cession of  ups  and  downs,  but  with  an  aggregate 
descent  of  about  fifteen  hundred  feet.  ^The  region 
traversed  is  wild  and  much  of  the  way  desolate. 
We  descend  the  deep  valley  of  a  roaring  moun- 
tain torrent,  with  rocks  rising  almost  perpendicu- 
larly thousands  of  feet  all  about  us.  Sometimes 
the  road  lies  among  masses  of  rock  that  have 


182  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

rolled  down  the  mountain  sides — masses  often  as 
large  as  small  cottages,  yet  piled  up  one  upon 
another  as  if  shoveled  there  by  Titans.  Once  the 
road  gets  through  an  otherwise  impassable  point 
by  a  tunnel  through  an  immense  projecting  rock. 
The  noise  of  the  water  dashing  its  way  through 
the  great  boulders  that  often  fill  the  bottom  of 
the  chasm  is  almost  deafening.  A  wild,  awe- 
inspiring  solitude  prevails.  Now  we  ascend  the 
valley  of  another  stream,  and  are  soon  again  out 
of  Switzerland  and  in  the  province  of  Savoy, 
formerly  part  of  Italy,  but  ceded  to  France  in 
1859.  We  pass  several  small  but  comfortable 
looking  hotels,  and  numerous  way-side  shrines — 
little  stone  buildings  open  to  the  weather  in  front, 
with  more  or  less  artistically  sculptured  madon- 
nas, or  crucifixions,  or  dead  Christs,  or  sometimes 
only  pictures — cheap  engravings  of  sacred  sub- 
jects exposed  in  them.  Occasionally  we  encounter 
a  little  saw-mill  driven  by  water  power  and  appar- 
ently cutting  a  thousand  feet  a  week,  though 
with  power  available  sufficient  to  run  all  the  saw- 
mills in  Michigan.  Two  or  three  little  villages 
we  pass,  with  their  churches  and  little  graveyards 
filled  with  little  black  iron  crosses,  the  churches 
sometimes  protected  from  destruction  by  ava- 
lanches by  immense  stone  barricades  in  their  rear. 
The  houses  in  these  villages  come  quite  out  to  the 
six-foot  roadway,  are  built  of  stone  and  wood  in 


THE  VALLEY  OF  CHAMOUNIX.  183 

combination,  and  are  so  intimately  associated 
with  goat  stables  that  it  is  impossible  to  tell 
what  is  stable  and  what  is  house.  Every  one 
greets  you  with  a  ^^  Bon  jour^''^  and  buxom  maid- 
ens emerge  from  the  houses  of  refreshment  and 
rattle  away  French  at  you  in  the  most  welcoming 
and  hospitable  manner.  They  are  clearly  a  sim- 
ple, polite,  good-hearted  people.  For  several 
miles  there  is  no  house  in  sight,  nothing  but  a 
boulder-strewn  valley  with  high  mountains  all 
around.  Large  flocks  of  goats,  with  an  occasional 
cow,  all  with  loud-tinkling  bells,  alone  give  life 
to  the  scene.  A  bend  in  the  road  and  we  are  in 
full  sight  of  the  famous  Mont  Blanc  range  and  of 
our  first  glacier. 

The  valley  of  Chamounix  (also  spelled  Cha- 
monix  and  Chamouny),  extends  nearly  north, 
and  south,  and  is  fifteen  miles  long.  The  river 
Arve  runs  through  it.  On  the  east  lies  the  Mont 
Blanc  range,  with  a  dozen  or  twenty  peaks  rang- 
ing in  hight  from  eight  to  fifteen  thousand 
feet.  The  highest  is  Mont  Blanc  itself — fifteen 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty-one  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea,  or  about  twice  the 
hight  of  our  own  Mount  Washington.  On  the 
west  side  of  the  valley  is  another  range  of  high, 
but  by  comparison  inferior,  mountains.  The 
Mont  Blanc  range  forms  the  dividing  line  between 
France  and  Italy.     These  mountains  are  peculiar 


184  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

for  their  sharp,  jagged  peaks,  which  rise  almost 
like  church  steeples  from  the  great  mass  of  snow 
with  which  the  whole  range  is  perpetually  cov- 
ered. At  least  four  great  glaciers  pour  down 
from  them  into  the  valley. 

In  the  case  of  mountains  so  high  that  the  snow 
never  melts  on  their  summits,  it  piles  up  from 
year  to  year  until  the  weight  becomes  so  immense 
that  it  is  forced  out  at  the  bottom,  and  under  the 
tremendous  pressure  it  emerges  in  the  valleys  in 
slowly-flowing  streams  of  the  hardest  ice.  These 
are  glaciers.  We  visited  one  in  immediate  prox- 
imity to  Mont  Blanc.  Seen  from  a  distance,  the 
upper  part  has  the  appearance  of  a  mountain 
gorge  filled  with  snow,  rough  and  dirty  as  if  it 
had  been  shoveled  there  from  all  the  aggregated 
sidewalks  in  the  world.  The  mass  narrows  as  it 
descends  toward  the  valley  at  an  angle  of  about 
forty-five  degrees  from  the  horizontal.  It  also 
grows  rougher  and  dirtier  on  the  surface.  What 
look  like  slight  furrows  from  a  distance,  we  find 
on  approach  are  great  ridges,  requiring  ladders  to 
surmount.  On  either  side  of  the  mouth  of  the 
glacier  are  great  embankments  pt  earth  and  small 
stones  deposited  by  it,  and  these  extend  out  a 
long  distance  from  the  original  line  of  the  mount- 
ain, like  deposits  of  alluvium  at  the  mouth  of  a 
swift  river.  These  are  called  moraines.  Between 
them  the  ice  becomes  blacker  and  more  intermin- 


VISIT  TO  A  GLACIER.  185 

gled  with  boulders,  and  is  at  last  lost  in  a  rollick- 
ing stream  wMcli  hastens  away  to  join  the  Arve. 
We  hire  mules  and  guides,  and  by  a  tortuous 
route  at  last  reach  the  summit  of  one  of  the 
moraines  at  the  point  where  it  joins  the  mountain 
proper.  We  are  now  several  hundred  feet  above 
the  valley,  and  look  down  forty  or  fifty  feet  into 
a  chasm  between  the  bank  and  the  mass  of  mov- 
ing ice,  which,  instead  of  spreading  over  its  entire 
channel  like  water,  apparently  heaps  itself  up  in 
the  center.  We  descend  into  this  chasm,  and  by 
ladders  mount  upon  the  glacier.  It  is  strewn 
with  boulders  that  it  has  brought  down  from  the 
mountains  above.  Here  and  there  it  is  inter- 
sected by  deep  fissures,  into  which,  if  a  person 
were  to  slip,  he  would  go  down  twenty  to  fifty 
feet,  or  perhaps  more.  We  climb  down  into  one 
of  the  furrows  which  run  longitudinally  along  the 
glacier,  and  enter  a  tunnel  which  has  been  cut 
right  into  its  bowels.  This  we  penetrate  for 
eighty-five  yards.  It  is  lighted  by  candles.  The 
ice  all  about  us  is  as  pure  as  crystal  and  as  solid 
and  hard  as  stone.  And  this  solid  mass  of  ice,  the 
guides  assure  us,  moves  at  the  rate  of  about  two 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  a  year.  The  remains  of  a 
guide,  lost  in  1820,  were  found  in  the  glacier  in 
1866,  having  been  thus  forty-six  years  in  coming 
down  from  the  point  where  the  poor  fellow  ended 
his  life. 


186  FIVE  MONTHS  ABHOAD. 

One  may  spend  days  at  Chamounix  and  yet  fail 
of  a  good  view  of  Mont  Blanc,  this  highest  peak 
in  Europe,  the  summit  being  so  often  enveloped 
in  clouds.  It  costs,  in  fees  to  guides  and  other 
expenses,  about  fifty  dollars  to  make  the  ascent, 
and  about  forty  people  go  up  every  year.  The 
view  from  the  top  is  unsatisfactory,  and  there  is 
nothing  but  the  credit  of  having  been  there  to 
compensate  for  the  labor  and  expense.  It  requires 
three  days'  time. 

The  valley  of  Chamounix  is  a  most  charming 
place.  The  inhabitants  are  famous  for  their 
wood  and  ivory  carvings,  and  souvenirs  may  be 
bought  in  great  variety.  No  one  who  visits 
Europe  should  miss  Chamounix.  The  hotels  are 
admirable,  while  the  grand  mountain  scenery, 
the  pretty  walks  and  rides,  and  the  pure,  invigor- 
ating air,  render  it  one  of  the  most  delightful 
places  imaginable. 


MOUNTAIN  DILIGExNCE. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

SWITZERLAND— A  BEAUTIFUL  RIDE-GENEVA— LAUSANNE— FREI- 
BURG-BERN—BALE— THE  SWISS  REPUBLIC. 

E  leave  Chamounix  for  Geneva  by  dili- 
gence, one  of  rather  different  construc- 
tion from  that  in  which  we  crossed  the 
Simplon.  This  has  a  coupe  in  front  under  the 
driver's  seat,  but  at  the  back  of  the  coupe  is  a 
large  compartment  for  baggage,  and  over  the 
whole  is  the  banquette.  The  latter  has  five  seats 
extending  across  the  vehicle,  each  holding  four  or 
five  persons.  The  level  of  the  seats  is  nine  or  ten 
feet  from  the  ground,  and  we  climb  to  them  by 
ladders.  When  once  up,  there  is  no  way  of  get- 
ting down,  till  a  stopping  place  is  reached  and  a 
ladder  is  raised.  Over  all  is  a  canvas  cover  with 
side  curtains  for  use  in  bad  weather.  The  pon- 
derous vehicle  is  drawn  by  five  horses  (three 
leaders  abreast)  and,  under  the  liberal  cracking  of 
the  whip,  we  bowl  along  at  the  rate  of  seven  miles 
an  hour.  The  horses  are  changed  every  eight  or 
ten  miles. 

The  road  to  Geneva,  fifty-three  and  a  half  miles, 
is  intensely  interesting  and  beautiful,  and  never 
did  seven  and  a  half  hours  pass  more  swiftly.     It 

187 


188  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

is  macadamized,  as  sifiooth  as  a  floor,  and  with 
few  or  no  lieavy  grades.  It  follows  tlie  valley  of 
tlie  Arve  all  the  way,  that  river  joining  the  Rhone 
at  Geneva.  As  we  leave  Chamounix  we  wind 
our  way  through  deep  mountain  gorges,  galleries 
being  cut  for  the  road  in  the  sides  of  the  rocks. 
In  one  place  we  pass  through  a  tunnel  of  consid- 
erable length.  Snow-covered  mountains  are  in 
sight  at  every  turn.  After  twelve  or  fourteen 
miles  of  this  wild  mountain  scenery,  the  valley 
widens  and  the  road  for  the  rest  of  the  way  is 
lined  with  trees — a  beautiful  avenue  the  whole 
distance,  and  much  of  the  way  an  avenue  of  pear 
trees.  The  fields  and  meadows  are  filled  with 
such  a  profusion  of  wild  flowers  as  is  never  seen  in 
our  own  country ;  and  many  varieties  are  included 
that  are  found  with  us  only  in  cultivated  gardens, 
such  as  geraniums,  pansies,  etc. 

We  pass  one  beautiful  cataract,  said  almost  to 
rival  the  famous  Staubbach,  in  which  the  water 
falls  from  such  a  height  as  to  be  entirely  con- 
verted into  spray  before  reaching  the  rocks  below. 
The  reader  can  hardly  fancy  anything  more  beau- 
tiful than  the  dashes  of  water  chasing  one  another 
through  the  air,  and  quickly  vanishing  into  a  thin 
mist.  But  this  Alpine  country  is  full  of  charm- 
ing waterfalls. 

At  Sallanches,  fourteen  miles  from  Chamounix, 
where  we  get  out  into  the  open  valley,  we  have  on 


ge:neva.  189 

looking  back  a  fine  view  of  Mont  Blanc  towering 
above  all  the  intervening  mountains.  It  is  indeed 
a  mucli  better  view  than  any  we  can  get  in  the 
valley  of  Chamounix.  Though  so  far  away  we 
seem  to  be  at  its  very  foot,  and  the  effect  of  the 
sun  shining  upon  the  great  beds  of  snow  and  ice 
that  constantly  envelop  its  upper  half  is  very 
grand. 

The  last  part  of  the  journey  lies  through  a 
highly  cultivated  district,  with  numerous  villages 
and  chateaux,  and  picturesque  old  avenues  of 
limes,  elms  and  poplars.  And  so,  without  a 
thought  of  fatigue,  we  reach  Geneva. 

Geneva,  the  largest  city  in  Switzerland  (we  get 
into  Swiss  territory  again  just  before  reaching  it), 
has  a  population  of  about  forty  thousand  souls. 
It  is  situated  at  the  point  where  Lake  Geneva 
empties  into  the  lower  Rhone,  and  is  famous 
chiefly  for  the  great  men  it  has  been  the  birth- 
place or  home  of.  These  include  John  Calvin  the 
reformer,  Jean  Jacques  Rousseau  the  philosopher, 
Jean  Baptiste  Say  the  political  economist,  Jean 
Charles  Sismondi  the  historian,  James  Necker 
the  financier,  his  daughter,  Madame  de  Stael, 
and  many  others.  Calvin's  house  may  still  be 
seen.  Geneva  also  has  always  been  the  seat  of 
advanced  social  and  political  thought  and  agita- 
tion. It  is  to-day  mainly  noted  as  the  principal 
mart  for  the  delicate  wood-carving  and  ingenious 


190  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

mechanism  for  which  the  Swiss  are  so  famous. 
Almost  every  other  store  is  either  an  emporium 
for  carved  wood  work,  jewelry,  watches  or  musi- 
cal boxes — in  the  last  two  articles  of  manufac- 
ture Switzerland  leading  the  world.  It  is  quite 
a  sight  to  see  the  great  variety  of  pretty  things 
with  which  these  stores  are  filled. 

Geneva  is  like  an  old  house  with  a  new  modern 
front.  Seen  from  the  lake  it  is  quite  Parisian  in 
its  elegance — magnificent  quays  and  bridges, 
beautiful  public  gardens  adorned  with  monu- 
ments, and  imposing  ^ve  or  six  story  buildings 
alone  meeting  the  eye — but  back  of  these  the 
streets  are  narrow,  crooked  and  filled  with  old- 
fashioned  and  often  unsightly  edifices.  It  is 
peculiarly  deficient  in  towers  and  spires,  the 
cathedral  dome  alone  breaking  the  monotony  of 
ugly  roofs.  The  cathedral,  finished  in  1224,  is  a 
fine  gothic  church,  disfigured  by  the  bad  taste  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  which  gave  it  a  Grecian 
facade.  At  the  reformation  it  became  a  protes- 
tant  church,  and  is  still  so  used.  It  looks  odd, 
after  leaving  the  imposing  high  altars  of  the 
catholic  churches  of  Italy,  to  see  the  beautiful 
choir  or  chancel  of  this  church  filled  with  seats 
facing  the  pulpit  in  the  nave.  Under  the  pulpit 
stands  a  chair  formerly  used  by  John  Calvin. 
The  church  is  now  in  process  of  being  restored. 

The  reader  may  remember    the  wealthy  but 


A  HUMAN  ELEVATOR.  191 

eccentric  Bnke  of  Brunswick,  who  died  in  1873, 
leaving  the  bulk  of  his  property,  including  the 
finest  collection  of  diamonds  in  Europe,  to  the 
city  of  Geneva,  The  city  showed  its  gratitude 
by  erecting  in  one  of  its  public  squares  fronting 
the  lake,  a  magnificent  monument  to  the  old  Duke 
— a  gorgeous  sarcophagus,  with  marble  canopy 
surmounted  by  a  huge  equestrian  statue. 

At  Geneva  we  passed  a  new  house  in  course  of 
erection,  and  were  amused  at  the  method  of  con- 
veying the  brick  and  stone  from  the  ground  to 
the  masons  above.  A  long  ladder  reached  to  the 
top  of  the  wall,  and  on  this  stood  as  many  men 
as  could  find  room  on  it,  each  standing  with  his 
back  to  the  ladder  and  face  to  the  street,  one 
above  the  other.  A  stone  would  be  handed  to 
the  first  one  who  would  quickly  lift  as  far  as  he 
could  reach  over  his  head,  where  it  would  be  taken 
by  the  next  man  and  by  him  be  passed  on  in  like 
manner  to  the  third,  and  so  on  to  the  top.  In 
this  way  two  or  three  stones  would  be  constantly 
in  process  of  passing  up  the  ladder  and  they 
would  be  delivered  in  a  steady  supply  at  the 
summit. 

Geneva  is  quickly  seen,  unless  one  has  money 
to  spend,  when  it  will  take  him  days  to  examine 
all  the  pretty  things  that  are  offered  in  the  shops, 
and  which  would  be  very  cheap  if  one  could  get 
them  home  without    those    detestable    customs 


1.92  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

inspections  and  extortions.  So  we  take  the  boat 
for  a  three  hours'  trip  up  the  lake  to  Lausanne. 
Lausanne  is  a  little  city  of  about  twenty-seven 
thousand  inhabitants,  situated  on  the  north  bank 
of  Lake  Geneva,  about  two-thirds  its  length 
above  the  city  of  Geneva.  It  is  interesting 
chiefly  as  having  been  the  residence  of  Edward 
Gibbon  for  the  greater  x)art  of  the  time  during 
which  he  was  engaged  in  writing  his  history  of 
the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Koman  Empire. 
Indeed,  the  hotel  we  stop  at  occupies  the  site  of 
the  chalet  or  Swiss  cottage  that  Gibbon  lived  in, 
and  our  dining-room  overlooks  the  garden  where 
one  summer  evening  in  1787  he  finally  completed 
his  ponderous  work.  Aside  from  this  associa- 
tion, and  a  small  but  interesting  Gothic  cathedral 
of  the  thirteenth  century,  now,  like  the  one  at 
Geneva,  used  as  a  Calvinistic  church,  Lausanne 
has  but  few  attractions.  The  town  sits  high 
above  the  lake,  and  is  reached  by  an  inclined 
plane  railway.  The  conveniences  for  transferring 
baggage  are  very  poor,  and  charges  for  every 
service  excessively  high.  The  trip  up  the  lake 
by  steamer  is  comparatively  an  uninteresting  one. 
The  scenery  is  tame,  and  the  single  object  of 
interest  I  noted  on  the  w^ay  up  was  the  chateau 
at  Coppet  in  which  the  great  financier  Necker 
and  his  daughter,  the  eminent  litterateur  Madam 
de  Stael,  lived  and  died. 


FREIBURG.  193 

Freiburg,  Switzerland  (there  is  another  Frei- 
burg in  Germany),  is  two  hours  ride  by  rail  north 
of  Lausanne.  It  is  a  small  place  of  ten  thousand 
inhabitants,  and  is  famous  chiefly  for  the  organ 
iii  its  cathedral,  which  is  said  to  be  one  of  the 
largest  in  Europe.  We  were  fortunate  enough  to 
be  present  at  an  organ  concert,  such  concerts 
being  given  almost  daily  at  an  admission  fee  of  a 
franc.  Unlike  the  cathedrals  of  Geneva,  Lau- 
sanne and  Bern,  that  at  Freiburg  is  still  a  Roman 
Catholic  church.  Over  the  main  door  is  a  rude 
but  curious  piece  of  relief  sculpture  represent- 
ing the  judgment  day,  according  to  fourteenth 
century  ideas.  The  Almighty  is  represented 
with  an  apron  full  of  saved  souls,  and  a  group 
of  others,  all  naked,  are  wending  their  way  to 
Paradise.  The  Virgin  Mary  holds  the  balances 
in  her  hand,  in  which  she  is  weighing  another 
batch,  and  Satan  is  hanging  to  the  scale  contain- 
ing the  weights  in  the  vain  attempt  to  make  the 
poor  fellows  in  the  other  appear  of  light  weight, 
and  so  gain  them  for  himself.  Another  demon 
with  the  head  of  a  hog  is  leading  away  a  party  of 
unfortunates  by  a  rope,  and  just  beyond,  still 
other  demons  are  boiling  a  kettle  full  of  sinners 
over  a  brisk  fire,  stirring  them  up  meanwhile 
with  three-pronged  pitchforks. 

Another  hour  brings  us  to  Bern,  the  capital  of 
of  the  Swiss  republic.    It  is  built  on  a  high  prom- 

13 


194  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

ontory,  surrounded  on  three  sides  by  the  river 
Aar,  one  of  the  principal  tributaries  of  the  Rhine. 
Probably  no  city  can  compare  with  it  for  the 
beautiful  views  it  commands.  Across  the  river 
are  delightful  green  hills,  interspersed  with  pic- 
turesque houses  and  forests.  In  the  far  distance, 
looking  south,  we  have  one  of  the  finest  pano- 
ramas of  the  Alps  anywhere  obtainable.  The 
houses  are  high  and  quaint,  with  arcades  cover- 
ing the  sidewalks.  The  roadways  of  the  streets 
are  flanked  by  lines  of  heavy  buttresses,  con- 
nected by  arches  which  support  the  front  walls 
of  the  houses.  The  latter  are  usually  four  or  five 
stories  high,  and  all  have  roofs  projecting  sev- 
eral feet  into  the  street.  The  arcades  are  low 
and  rather  dark,  but  the  sidewalks  under  them 
smooth  and  very  clean.  There  are  a  great  many 
fountains  and  monuments  in  the  middle  of  the 
streets,  and  nearly  all  are  ornamented  with  bears, 
the  emblem  of  the  city.  Wherever  we  turn  we 
see  a  sculptured  bear — walking  bears,  climbing 
bears,  equestrian  bears,  crouching  bears,  sleeping 
bears,  hugging  bears,  and  bears  in  every  other 
possible  act  and  position,  in  bronze,  stone,  and 
wood. 

We  reached  Bern  one  Saturday  evening.  On 
awaking  next  morning,  the  cathedral  chimes 
were  ringing  most  joyously,  the  sun  shone 
brightly,  the  air  was  cool  and  refreshing,  the  view 


A  SUNDAY  IN  BERN.  195 

from  our  bedroom  window  most  charming.  Well 
was  the  hotel  named  Bellevue.  At  our  feet  lay 
the  delightful  hotel  garden,  with  its  neat  gravel 
walks,  its  shady  horse  chestnuts  and  its  bright 
flowers.  Just  beyond,  the  swift-flowing,  winding 
river,  with  the  gentle  roar  of  its  waters  as  they 
glided  over  the  stone  dam.  Still  beyond,  a  beau- 
tiful hill  covered  with  bright  green  flelds  and 
groves  of  pines,  and  in  the  far  distance  the  chain 
of  snowy  Alps.  The  streets  were  quiet  as  Sunday 
in  any  New  England  village.  We  went  down  to 
breakfast.  Americans  at  home  little  know  what 
good  bread  and  butter  are  ;  and  as  for  honey,  our 
bees  should  take  lessons  in  Switzerland.  Every 
sense  was  gratified,  and  no  cumbering  care 
obtruded  itself  to  mar  the  perfect  enjoyment  of 
the  day.     And  so  we  sauntered  to  church. 

The  cathedral  of  Bern,  a  very  good  Gothic 
structure,  was  completed  about  the  time  of 
the  Reformation,  and,  of  course,  was  speedily 
reformed  by  this  protestant  community  into  a 
Calvinistic  church.  In  sharp  contrast  with  most 
of  the  catholic  churches  in  Italy  every  seat  in 
this  large  edifice  was  filled.  Men  and  women  sat 
apart,  the  former  occupying  the  aisles  and  chan- 
cel, the  latter  the  nave.  On  the  higher  seats  in 
the  chancel  sat  the  elders.  The  minister  wore  a 
black  gown  and  bands  and  timed  his  sermon  by 
an  hour-glass.      Every   soul    stood    during   the 


196  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

prayers.  The  music  consisted  of  plain,  simple 
chorals  similar  to  our  Dundee  and  Old  Hundred. 
After  the  sermon  most  of  the  congregation  were 
dismissed,  but  what  any  American  pastor  would 
call  a  full  house  stayed  to  communion.  In  con- 
ducting the  latter  service,  first  there  was  a  prayer 
from  the  pulpit  situated  half  way  down  the  nave. 
Then  the  minister  removed  to  the  table  on  which 
the  bread  and  wine  were  placed  at  the  entrance 
to  the  chancel.  Holding  up  a  piece  of  bread  in 
his  hand  he  said  a  few  words  standing,  then  ate 
the  bread ;  and  so  proceeded  with  the  wine.  The 
elders  then  came  forward  and  partook  of  the  ele- 
ments at  the  hands  of  the  pastor.  Then  came 
the  turn  of  the  congregation.  The  men  first 
marched  up,  a  single  file  from  each  side  of  the 
church.  The  pastor  and  one  elder  each  held  in 
his  hand  a  strip  of  bread  from  which  he  broke  off 
a  piece  and  gave  to  each  communicant  as  he 
passed.  Farther  to  the  rear,  back  in  the  chancel, 
stood  two  other  elders  serving  the  wine  to  the 
two  processions,  and  between  them  still  other 
ofiicials  were  kept  busy  wiping  out  with  nap- 
kins and  refilling  the  goblets  as  they  were 
rapidly  emptied.  Passing  out  through  doors  in 
the  chancel  the  two  processions  filed  back  to 
their  seats.  Then  followed  the  women  in  like 
order.  The  whole  proceeding  reminded  us  forci- 
bly of  a  vote  by  tellers  in  our  national  House  of 


THE  SWISS  REPUBLIC.  197 

Representatives.  While  it  was  going  on,  alter- 
nately a  young  man  in  the  pulpit  read  a  chapter 
from  the  scriptures  and  the  choir  sa,ng  a  hymn. 

At  a  later  hour  Church  of  England  services 
were  held  in  a  small  chapel  formed  by  partition- 
ing off  one  bay  of  the  north  aisle  of  the  cathe- 
dral. 

The  Swiss  republic  is  very  similar  to  our  own 
in  many  respects.  It  is  composed  of  twenty-two 
cantons,  each  of  which  is  a  sovereign  power  so  far 
as  its  internal  government  is  concerned.  The 
regulation  of  foreign  relations,  the  post-office,  the 
currency,  the  army,  and  some  other  things  is 
vested  in  the  confederacy.  There  are  two  houses 
in  the  national  legislature,  the  lower  house  con- 
sisting of  one  member  for  every  twenty  thousand 
of  population,  the  upper  of  two  members  from 
each  canton.  The  pay  of  the  members  is  twenty 
francs  (four  dollars)  per  day,  and  there  are  two 
sessions  each  year,  in  June  and  December.  The 
executive  power  is  vested  in  a  Council  of  seven, 
elected  by  the  legislative  body  and  serving  for 
three  years.  One  of  the  seven  acts  as  President 
of  the  Council,  and  receives  thirteen  thousand 
francs  per  year  (two  thousand  six  hundred  dol- 
lars); the  other  members  receive  tvv^elve  thousand 
francs  each.  The  whole  population  of  Switzer- 
land is  about  equal  to  that  of  Ohio,  while  its 
territory  is  considerably  less  than  half  that  of  the 


198  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

Buckeye  state.  About  seventy  per  cent,  of  the 
people  use  the  German  language,  twenty-five  per 
cent,  the  French,  and  ^yq  per  cent,  the  Italian. 
About  three-fifths  of  the  population  are  protes- 
tant  and  two-fifths  catholics. 

Three  hours'  ride  northward  from  Bern  brings 
us  to  Bale,  or  Basel,  an  important  Swiss  town 
near  the  German  frontier.  It  is  situated  on  the 
Rhine,  and  is  in  great  part  a  well-built  modern 
city.  The  principal  object  of  interest  is  its  cathe- 
dral, an  interesting  old  Gothic  structure  built  in 
the  fourteenth  century  to  replace  an  older  one 
destroyed  by  an  earthquake,  some  portions  of 
which,  however,  still  remain.  It  is  now  used  a» 
a  Calvinist  church. 

Once,  a  long  time  ago,  a  jealousy  existed 
between  Great  Bale  and  Little  Bale,  the  two  sec- 
tions separated  by  the  Rhine,  and,  to  show  their 
contempt  for  their  neighbors,  the  inhabitants  of 
the  larger  city,  on  the  west  bank,  set  up  the  figure 
of  a  human  head  on  a  tower  just  at  the  threshold 
of  the  bridge  connecting  the  two  places,  the  head 
being  provided  with  great  goggle  eyes  and  a  red 
tongue  six  or  eight  inches  long,  and  the  whole 
being  so  operated  by  clock-work  that  at  inter- 
vals of  a  minute  or  so  it  would  roll  its  great, 
fierce  eyes  and  stick  out  and  wag  its  long  tongue, 
in  a  most  insulting  way,  in  the  direction  of  Little 
Bale.  The  head  is  now  exhibited  among  other 
curiosities  in  a  room  belonging  to  the  cathedral. 


BALE.  199 

Another  curiosity  in  tlie  same  collection  is  a 
breech-loading  gun,  not  very  unlike  some  of  our 
modern  breech-loaders,  yet  the  invention  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years  ago. 

In  another  of  the  rooms  belonging  to  the  cath- 
edral sat  the  famous  council  of  Bale,  convened  in 
1431  to  reform  errors  and  abuses  already,  at  that 
early  date,  acknowledged  to  have  crept  into  the 
church.  The  members  talked  and  disputed  for 
seventeen  long  years,  when  the  reigning  pope  put 
an  end  to  the  muddle  by  excommunicating  the 
whole  lot.  This  was  a  sort  of  prelude  to  the 
reformation  which  culminated  under  Luther  and 
Calvin  a  century  later. 

Among  the  monuments  in  the  cathedral  of  Bale 
is  that  of  the  eminent  reformer  and  brilliant 
scholar  Erasmus,  who  was  a  resident  of  the 
place. 

Northern  Switzerland  is  not  very  mountainous, 
though  rather  more  hilly  than  our  own  western 
country.  It  is  well  cultivated  and  a  very  pretty 
region  to  ride  through.  The  castles  of  Switzer- 
land are  generally  of  the  French  chateau  style, 
with  round,  extinguisher-topped,  towers  and  tur- 
rets—^more  picturesque  than  the  massive  keeps  of 
the  German  castles. 

The  railway  carriages  of  Switzerland  more 
nearly  resemble  our  American  cars  than  any  oth- 
ers I  saw  in  Europe.     They  have  generally  eight 


200  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

wheels,  and  have  an  aisle  and  two  rows  of  seats, 
like  our  own,  instead  of  compartments.  They 
approach  ours  in  another  respect:  On  none  of 
the  other  railways  in  Europe  are  the  cars  pro- 
vided with  water  closets,  but  the  trains  stop  every 
few  hours  for  ten  or  fifteen  minutes  for  the  pas- 
sengers to  get  off  at  stations  where  accommo- 
dations are  provided.  The  Swiss  roads,  however, 
have  a  notice  in  every  car  that  a  water  closet  will 
be  found  in  the  '*  Gepackwagen"  or  baggage 
car. 

The  Swiss  peasant  costume,  worn  by  a  large 
per  centage  of  the  women  one  meets,  is  very  pic- 
turesque. It  consists  of  a  short,  full  skirt,  with 
tight-fitting  black  bodice,  ornamented  with  silver 
chains  suspended  from  the  points  of  the  shoulder 
blades  and  passing  under  the  arms  to  the  breast, 
and  tight  sleeves  with  a  sort  of  broad,  white, 
stiff-starched  epaulet  extending  from  the  shoul- 
der to  the  elbow. 

Switzerland  is  especially  famous  for  the  excel- 
lence of  its  hotels.  It  is  also  a  cheap,  pleasant 
and  healthful  country  in  which  to  make  a  pro- 
tracted sojourn,  though  it  affords  fewer  attrac- 
tions in  the  realms  of  art  and  antiquity  than  the 
other  countries  we  have  visited. 

Throughout  Switzerland  a  peculiar  sort  of  pub- 
lic fountain  is  common.     It  consists  of  a  stone 


SWISS  ODDITIES. 


201 


pillar  with  four  pipes  projecting  from  it  horizon- 
tally, from  which  four  streams  of  water  are  per- 
petually flowing.  A  large  deep  stone  basin  below 
catches  the  water  and  is  the  common  wash  tub 
and  watering  trough  of  the  neighborhood. 


A  SWISS  FOUNTAIN. 


CEAPTEH  XXIL 

INTO  GERMANY  AGAIN— BORDER  CUSTOMS  EXTORTIONS— STRASS- 
BURG— ITS  STORKS-THE  CATHEDRAL— A  GHASTLY  EXHI- 
BITION. 

EAYINGr  Bale  we  entered  German  territory, 
and  were  once  more  subjected  to  that 
abhorrence  of  travelers,  a  customs  inspec- 
tion. Most  of  our  baggage  was  promptly  chalked 
upon  our  representation  that  we  were  going 
through  to  Paris;  but  spying  one  small  parcel 
done  up  in  paper,  without  any  inquiry  as  to  the 
nature  of  its  contents,  an  inspector  snatched  it 
from  us,  threw  it  on  the  scales  and  demanded 
forty  pfennigs  (10  cents)  duty.  In  vain  I  told 
the  inspector  it  was  only  a  little  wood  carving  of 
trilling  value,  and  that  I  was  on  my  way  home  to 
America,  and  was  taking  it  with  me  as  a  little 
present.  The  only  reply  was,  ''You  must  pay." 
Then  I  put  myself  on  my  dignity  and  pulled  out 
my  passport.  The  obtuse  individual  looked  it 
over,  turned  up  his  nose  at  the  great  seal  of  the 
United  States  and  James  G.  Blaine' s  official  auto- 
graph that  had  cost  me  five  dollars,  and  reiter- 
ated, "  You  must  pay."  Then  I  became  annoyed 
and  told  him  he  might  keep  the  bauble  as  I 

208 


CUSTOMS  EXTORTIONS.  203 

would  not  pay,  as  he  had  no  right  to  charge  duty 
on  the  property  of  an  American  citizen  that 
would  not  be  twenty -four  hours  in  the  country. 
He  seemed  entirely  indifferent,  and  as  I  saw 
that  I  should  lose  my  train  if  I  parleyed  any 
longer,  I  at  last  gave  him  the  half  franc  and  left, 
protesting  that  I  would  report  him  to  Prince 
Bismarck.  Neither  did  that  seem  to  affect  him. 
I  doubt  very  much  if  he  had  ever  heard  of  such  a 
man,  and  I  am  quite  certain  the  imperial  trea- 
sury will  never  see  a  cent  of  my  contribution.  In 
fact  I  am  convinced  that  this  is  the  way  these 
fellows  get  their  "trinkgeld,"  as  they  call  it, 
otherwise  beer  money.  England  and  Switzerland 
are  the  only  two  countries  where  travelers  are  not 
annoyed  by  these  official  extortionists. 

I  had  had  a  previous  experience  of  this  charac- 
ter :  Passing  through  Austria  (the  Tyrol),  to  save 
trouble,  I  registered  my  baggage  through  from 
Munich  in  Germany  to  Verona  in  Italy,  thinking 
I  should  thus  only  have  the  Italian  inspection  to 
undergo.  But,  to  my  surprise,  when  we  reached 
the  Austrian  frontier  there  was  my  baggage 
thrown  off  on  the  platform.  I  explained  to  the 
official  that  it  was  in  the  hands  of  the  railway 
company  and  out  of  my  possession,  and  would 
not  be  delivered  to  me  except  on  Italian  soil. 
Nothing  would  do  but  it  must  be  examined.  Of 
course  the  examination  was  all  a  farce.     It  con- 


204  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

tained  nothing  dutiable,  but  the  inspectors  would 
have  been  none  the  wiser  if  it  had,  from  the  indif- 
ferent way  in  which  they  did  their  work.  Then 
came  a  demand  for  twenty-five  kreutzers  for  the 
trouble  of  handling  the  baggage,  the  same  being 
preferred  by  the  porter,  who,  of  course  "whacked 
up,"  as  the  boys  say,  with  the  inspector,  and 
each  got  his  beer  at  my  expense.  Free  trade 
would  be  a  great  promoter  of  honesty  in  every 
country. 

Two  hours'  ride  from  Bale  brings  us  to  Strass- 
burg.  This  is  a  city  of  considerable  commercial 
importance.  It  was  formerly  a  free  city  of  the 
German  empire.  Then  it  was  captured  by 
France,  and  remained  a  French  city  with  Ger- 
man-speaking population  down  to  1870,  a  period 
of  about  two  centuries,  when  the  Franco-Prussian 
war  reunited  it  with  Germany.  It  is  a  curious 
place,  different  from  any  other  city  we  had  seen. 
The  houses  are  tall,  and  all  have  their  eaves 
towards  the  street,  with  very  steep  tile  roofs,  the 
latter  usually  containing  three  or  four  tiers  of 
dormer  windows,  making  seven  or  eight  floors  in 
all  to  every  house. 

On  the  tops  of  the  chimneys  of  the  taller  houses 
are  numerous  storks'  nests,  generally  with  three 
or  four  young  storks  about  the  size  of  small  geese 
lazily  rolling  about  in  them.  Looking  down  from 
the  tower  of  the  cathedral  we  were  able  to  count 


STORKS  NESTS  ON  THE  CHIMNEYS  AT  STRASSBURG. 


STRASSBURG  CATHEDRAL.  205 

fifteen  or  twenty  of  these  great  nests  witli  their 
black  and  white  occupants.  It  is  also  a  common 
sight  in  Strassbnrg  to  see  an  old  brown  stork 
perched  on  one  leg  on  the  summit  of  a  tall  chim- 
ney, and  stand  there  for  hours  as  immovable 
as  a  bronze  statue.  They  are  regarded  as  lucky 
birds,  and  are  never  driven  off. 

Strassbnrg  is  famous  chiefly  for  two  things — its 
cathedral  and  its  pates  de  foxes  gras^  or  goose- 
liver  pies,  which  latter  are  the  most  costly  edible 
known,  being  sold  at  the  manufactories  at  from 
one  to  eight  dollars  apiece.  They  are  exported 
hence  to  all  parts  of  the  world.  • 

The  cathedral  is  notable  as  possessing  the  tall- 
est spire  in  the  world,  it  being  four  hundred  and 
sixty -five  feet  high,  or  thirty  feet  higher  than  the 
summit  of  St.  Peter's  in  Rome.  It  is  moreover  a 
beautiful  spire,  of  light,  open  stone  work,  and  it 
can  be  seen  for  miles  away  in  every  direction.  For 
forty  pfennigs  (10  cents)  one  may  ascend  it,  and 
the  view  from  the  summit  well  repays  the  fee  and 
the  labor  of  climbing,  although,  after  all,  we  only 
ascend  to  a  gallery  about  three -fourths  the  way 
to  the  top.  The  spire  was  badly  damaged  during 
the  bombardment  of  the  city  by  the  Germans  in 
the  summer  of  1871,  and  some  shell  marks  still 
remain,  though,  in  general,  repairs  have  been 
fully  made.  The  interior  of  the  church  is  a  noble 
piece  of  Gfothic  work,  although  built  at  different 


206  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

periods  and  in  varying  styles,  and  so  lacking  in 
perfect  symmetry. 

The  famous  clock  of  Strassburg  Cathedral  every 
one  is  familiar  with.  It  is  situated  in  the  south 
transept,  and  is  adjusted  to  record  everything  in 
the  almanac  line  for  about  a  thousand  years  to 
come.  At  each  quarter  hour  a  small  figure  steps 
forward  and  strikes  a  bell,  and  at  noon  each  day 
there  is  a  grand  procession  of  the  twelve  apos- 
tles, and  a  cock  flaps  his  wings  and  crows  loud 
enough  to  be  heard  all  over  the  great  church. 
We  were  surprised  to  see  how  much  of  an  attrac- 
tion this  clock  is,  even  to  the  natives  of  Strass- 
burg.  As  the  hour  of  twelve  approaches,  people 
are  seen  running  from  all  directions  to  the  cathe- 
dral, and  the  crowd  becomes  so  great  that  one 
can  scarce  approach  within  a  dozen  yards  of  the 
transept  door,  especially  if  he  be  a  little  late. 

Another  very  ancient  church — over  one  thous- 
and years  old — is  that  of  St.  Thomas,  now  a 
Lutheran  place  of  worship.  It  is  visited  for  a 
somewhat  famous  monument  erected  by  Louis 
XIII.  to  Marshal  Saxe ;  but  a  more  sensational 
exhibit  is  that  of  the  half -preserved  bodies  of  the 
Duke  of  Nassau,  killed  during  the  Thirty  Years 
War,  1618-1648,  and  his  daughter.  They  are  in 
coffins  with  glass  tops,  and  are  horrible  things  to 
look  at,  though  evidently  people  enjoy  seeing 
them,   or  they  would  be  buried  out  of  sight. 


A  SENSATIONAL  EXHIBIT.  207 

There  is  also  in  St.  Thomas'  Church  the  monu- 
ment of  Jeremiah  James  Oberlin,  a  professor  of 
the  University  of  Strassburg,  and  a  brother  of  the 
Swiss  Pastor  Oberlin,  after  whom  Oberlin  Col- 
lege, Ohio,  was  named. 

The  Alsatian  costume  (Strassburg  is  the  capital 
of  Alsace)  is  noticeable  chiefly  in  the  head  dress 
of  the  women.  Instead  of  wearing  bonnets  or 
hats  in  the  street,  the  head  is  dressed  simply  with 
an  enormous  black  Alsatian  bow.  It  is  peculiar 
rather  than  pretty, 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

PARIS— IMPRESSIONS  ON  ARRIVING  THERE— THE  BOULEVARDS, 
STREETS  AND  BUILDINGS— TO  POOR  APHY  OF  THE  CITY— THE 
TUILERIES-PLACE  DE  LA  CONCORD-ARC  DE  TRIOMPHE— 
THE  MADELEINE-COLUMN  VENDOME-GRAND  OPERA  HOUSE— 
THE  LOUVRE— HOTEL  DE  VILLE— NOTRE  DAME— JARDIN  DES 
PLANTES-THE  LUXEMBOURG-THE  INVALIDES-CHAMP  DE 
MARS. 

HE  trip  from  Strassburg  to  Paris  is  rather  a 
dull  and  tedious  one,  and  there  are  no 
points  of  any  considerable  interest  at  which 
the  journey  may  be  broken.  The  same,  I  think, 
applies  generally  to  traveling  through  France. 
The  country,  compared  with  Italy  and  Switzer- 
land, is  very  level ;  the  railroad  itself  is  no  more 
interesting  as  an  engineering  work  than  any  of 
our  western  roads,  and  the  scenery  is  quite 
monotonous,  France  appearing  to  the  traveler  one 
vast  farm,  of  which  every  acre  is  utilized. 

Every  station  is  marked  with  the  number  of 
kilometers  to  Paris,  and  as  the  number  dimin- 
ishes  the  stations  grow  more  frequent,  the  houses 
begin  to  thicken,  and  evidences  multiply  that  we 
are  drawing  near  a  large  city.  Then  we  catch  a 
glimpse,  in  passing  through  them,  of  the  walls 
of  Pans — a   long  line    of  earthworks  faced  on 

a08 


ARRIVAL  IN  PARIS.  209 

the  outside  with  masonry  and  a  ditch.  Inside 
the  walls  the  view  from  the  car  window  is  just 
what  might  strike  .one  in  entering  any  large 
American  city — long  lines  of  freight  cars,  railway 
shops,  ragged  walls,  new  buildings  in  progress, 
etc.  The  train  slows  up,  and  finally  stops  in  a 
magnificent  station.  As  a  rule,  by  the  way,  all 
the  railway  stations  on  the  continent  are  very 
much  superior  in  size  and  elegance  to  our  Ameri- 
can depots.  We  are  met  on  the  platform  by 
porters  who  relieve  us  of  our  hand  baggage,  and 
an  official  with  the  word  "Interpreter"  on  his 
cap  is  quick  to  note  where  his  services  are 
required.  We  name  our  hotel,  and  he  conducts 
us  to  one  of  the  small  omnibuses,  holding  about 
six  persons,  and  belonging  to  the  railway  com- 
pany, which  are  in  waiting  outside ;  the  fare  by 
which  to  any  hotel  is  one  franc  (20  cents).  The 
interpreter  inquires,  "Have  you  any  registered 
baggage?"  We  produce  our  receipts.  They 
give  receipts,  or,  rather,  paper  checks,  for  bag- 
gage, on  the  continental  railways,  a  number  being 
pasted  on  each  article,  and  the  traveler  holding  a 
receipt  for  so  many  pieces  marked  with  that 
number.  Our  baggage  coming  from  a  station 
in  Germany,  has,  of  course,  to  be  inspected 
by  the  customs  officers.  We  explain  to  the 
interpreter  that  we  are  going  through  to  Lon- 
don: that  we  have  nothing  that  we  shall  leave 

14 


210  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

in  Paris,  and  no  tobacco,  spirits  or  tea  in  any 
quantities,  and  by  his  assistance  the  inspection 
is  soon  over,  only  one  piece  of  baggage  being 
opened  for  form's  sake.  A  franc  satisfies  the 
interpreter,  half  a  franc  the  porter,  and  we 
bowl  away  through  the  grand  streets  and  boule- 
vards of  Paris. 

The  hotel  we  had  selected,  though  higher  in 
price  than  any  we  had  before  patronized  since 
setting  foot  on  the  continent,  we  found  not 
satisfactory,  so  after  putting  up  with  it  for  a 
day  we  started  out  to  find  something  better,  and 
finally  settled  down  on  a  very  quiet,  orderly, 
comfortable  place  in  the  Rue  de  Rivoli,  overlook- 
ing the  gardens  of  the  Tuileries.  Here  every- 
thing was  beautifully  clean,  and  the  attendance 
most  efficient.  The  landlord  was  an  agreeable 
gentleman,  and  one  who  gave  his  personal  atten- 
tion to  every  detail.  Every  one  in  the  house 
spoke  English,  and  the  guests  seemed  to  be  almost 
exclusively  English.  The  charges  were  less  than 
three  dollars  a  day,  being  five  francs  each  for 
room,  two  for  breakfast,  six  for  dinner,  and  one 
for  attendance.  Candles,  extra,  according  to  what 
we  burned. 

Being  comfortably  settled  for  a  fortnight,  we 
began  seriously  the  work  of  seeing  Paris,  and 
armed  with  a  pocket  map,  very  quickly  ^'got  the 
hang  of  the  place." 


THE  BOULEVARDS  OF  PARIS.  211 

Paris  was,  of  course,  some  centuries  ago,  mucli 
smaller  than  at  present.  Like  all  mediaeval 
cities,  it  was  surrounded  with  fortifications.  As 
it  outgrew  these  limits,  new  defenses  had  to  be 
erected  beyond,  and  the  old,  being  now  useless, 
were  removed,  and  on  their  site  broad  streets  were 
opened.  These  were  the  original  boulevards  of 
Paris.  A  second  general  enlargement  gave  another 
series.  From  the  circumstances  of  their  con- 
struction, they  of  course  encircle  the  center  of  the 
city.  In  their  method  of  improvement  they 
differ  in  no  respect  from  ordinary  streets.  There 
is  a  broad  roadway  and  two  wide  sidewalks ;  the 
latter  in  some  cases  are  forty  or  fifty  feet  wide. 
There  are  also  usually  rows  of  trees  on  either 
side.  Instead  of  the  streets  radiating  from  the 
center  of  the  city  being  the  main  business  thor- 
oughfares, as  with  us,  the  encircling  boulevards 
have  attained  this  distinction,  from  their  roomi- 
ness, which  makes  them  popular  places  of  resort. 
Inside  the  boulevards,  the  city,  a  century  ago, 
was  an  intricate  net-work  of  narrow,  crooked 
streets.  The  successive  usurping  governments  of 
Napoleon  I.,  Louis  Philippe,  and  Napoleon  III., 
found  it  necessary  to  bolster  u])  their  popularity 
with  elaborate  public  improvements,  and  also  to 
find  work  for  the  large  population  which  other- 
wise were  ready  at  a  wink  for  riot  and  revolution. 
The  political  circumstances  of  the  century  have 


212  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

hence  contributed  prominently  to  the  beautifying 
of  Paris,  until  it  has  become  without  doubt  the 
finest  city  in  the  world.  The  old  streets  have 
been  widened  and  straightened  at  great  expense, 
and  new  and  magnificent  thoroughfares  opened 
between  important  centers. 

Where  a  new  street  has  been  laid  out  or  an  old 
one  widened,  the  buildings  have  usually  been 
erected  on  a  uniform  plan,  and  on  several  of  the 
best  streets  the  Italian  fashion  of  arcaded  side- 
walks has  been  successfully  adopted.  On  hot 
days  every  one  flocks  to  the  shade  of  the  arcades, 
and  on  rainy  days  to  the  shelter  they  afford,  and 
this  has  made  them  very  popular  with  shopkeep- 
ers. I  saw  one  day  hundreds  of  ladies  out  shop- 
ping in  a  rainstorm  that  would  have  soaked  them 
through  in  two  minutes  but  for  the  friendly  shel- 
ter of  the  arcades. 

The  streets  are  very  clean  for  so  large  a  city. 
Men  are  constantly  employed  with  hose,  sprink- 
ling and  washing  them.  Sweeping  machines  are 
used  in  connection  with  this  washing,  also  men 
with  stout  brooms  and  rubber  scrapers,  and  all 
the  slush  is  swept  into  the  sewers.  I  even  noticed 
a  man  with  rags  and  brushes  cleaning  the  lamp 
posts.  This  cleanliness  is  one  of  the  things  that 
makes  Paris  so  attractive,  and  draws  so  many 
visitors  to  it,  and  I  doubt  not  that  in  various 
ways  it  well  repays  the  cost. 


PARIS  BUILDINGS.  213 

The  buildings  of  Paris  are  generally  liigh — 
often  six  stories,  besides  a  mansard  roof  contain- 
ing one  or  two  more.  These  mansards  are  usually 
covered  with  metal.  The  building  material  is 
almost  exclusively  stone.  A  brick  structure  is 
very  exceptional,  and  there  is  probably  not  a 
wooden  house  in  all  Paris.  The  cheaper  build- 
ings are  constructed  of  rubble  stone,  and  finished 
with  stucco ;  the  better  class  are  built  of  squared 
stone  in  large  blocks  the  full  thickness  of  the 
wall.  Stone  is  abundant  and  easily  worked. 
The  ornamentation  is  all  cut  after  the  building  is 
up,  and  so  is  the  smoothing  of  the  walls,  which  is 
done  with  a  sort  of  plane.  The  floors  are  con- 
structed with  Ave  or  six-inch  iron  beams,  filled  in 
between  with  Portland  cement  concrete.  To  sup- 
port this  concrete,  iron  cross-bars  are  suspended 
from  the  beams  on  a  level  with  their  lower  edges, 
and  upon  these  rest  other  longitudinal  bars,  form- 
ing a  sort  of  gridiron,  which  becomes  imbedded  in 
the  cement.  The  filling  between  the  beams  is  put 
in  as  the  building  progresses,  and  it  is  done  by 
means  of  a  platform  of  boards  temporarily  con- 
structed on  the  lower  side  of  the  beams,  on  which 
the  cement  is  poured.  Practically,  Paris  build- 
ings are  completely  fire  proof. 

Paris,  the  second  city  in  the  world  in  point  of 
population,  is  situated  on  both  sides  of  the  river 
Seine,  in  the  northeastern  part  of  France.     It  is 


214  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

somewhat  oblong  in  form,  with  ronnded  corners, 
and  its  greatest  length  extends  east  and  west.  It 
is  about  seven  miles  long  and  five  and  a-half 
wide,  and  its  walls  are  over  twenty  miles  in  cir- 
cuit. The  Seine  flows  through  it  from  east  to 
west,  and  forms  in  its  course  very  nearly  a  semi- 
circle, entering  the  city  at  its  southeasterly  cor- 
ner, and  leaving  it  at  its  southwesterly. 

Near  the  center  of  the  city,  on  the  north  bank 
of  the  Seine,  with  one  end  towards  the  river  and 
fronting  west,  stand  the  ruins  of  the  palace  of  the 
Tuileries,  built  by  Catherine  de  Medici  about 
three  hundred  years  ago.  The  Tuileries  was  the 
residence  of  all  the  great  Bourbon  kings,  of 
Napoleon  I.,  Louis  Philippe  and  Napoleon  III., 
and  was  finally  burned  down  by  the  commune  in 
1871.  The  walls  stand  just  as  the  fire  left  them, 
and  it  is  probable  that  sooner  or  later  they  will 
be  pulled  down  and  the  site  be  used  for  other 
public  buildings.  It  is  sad  to  see  the  darkness 
and  desolation  that  reign  where  once  all  was  so 
gay  and  brilliant. 

In  front  of  the  Tuileries  extending  westward  lie 
the  gardens  belonging  to  the  palace,  now  used  as 
a  public  park.  They  are  about  half  a  mile  in 
length  and  about  a  third  as  wide  as  long.  They 
terminate  in  an  immense  open  square  called  the 
Place  de  la  Concorde.  In  the  center  of  this  square, 
stood  the  famous  guillotine  of  the  French  revolu- 


GEOGRAPHY  OF  PARIS.  215 

tion,  npon  which  the  nnfortunate  Louis  XYI. 
and  his  wife,  Marie  Antoinette,  lost  their  heads. 
The  spot  is  now  marked  by  the  obelisk  of  Lnxor, 
a  granite  monolith  from  Egypt,  similar  to  the  one 
recently  set  np  in  Central  Park,  ISTew  York.  The 
river  forms  the  south  boundary  of  the  garden  of 
the  Tuileries  and  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  and 
just  across  the  river,  fronting  the  latter,  stands 
the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  a  fine  edifice,  formerly 
known  as  the  Palais  Bourbon. 

Still  further  west  is  a  very  broad  boulevard 
lined  with  spacious  parks  and  gardens  known  as 
the  Champs  Elysees  (pronounced  Shonseleeze), 
and  this  terminates  in  the  famous  Arch  of  Tri- 
umph, erected  by  Napoleon  I.  to  commemorate 
his  victories.  We  thus  have  a  continuous  park 
for  about  two  miles,  the  Tuileries  occupying  one 
end,  the  Arc  de  Triomphe  the  other.  The  arch  is 
a  magnificent  structure  of  massive  stonework,  one 
hundred  and  fifty-two  feet  high,  with  a  main 
archway  through  it,  forty-five  feet  wide  and  nine- 
ty high.  There  is  also  a  transverse  arch,  fifty- 
seven  feet  high,  extending  through  it  from  north 
to  south.  The  exterior  is  ornamented  with  bold 
relief  sculptures,  and  the  inside  is  inscribed  with 
the  names  of  ninety-six  of  Napoleon's  battles  and 
the  names  of  his  principal  generals.  It  cost  the 
French  nation  over  two  million  dollars. 

Intersecting   the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  and  at 


216  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

right  angles  with  the  Champs  Elysees,  is  the  broad 
and  busy  Rue  Royale  {Rue  is  the  French  for 
street),  and  at  the  head  of  it,  looking  south,  and 
directly  facing  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  is  the 
church  of  The  Madeleine,  one  of  the  landmarks  of 
Paris.  The  Madeleine,  or  church  of  St.  Mary 
Magdalene,  is  an  immense  stone  building  modeled 
after  a  Grecian  temple  and  conveying  from  its 
appearance  anything  but  the  idea  of  a  Christian 
church.  It  was  begun  in  1764  and  completed 
under  JN'apoleon  I.,  who  contemplated  changing 
its  use  from  a  church  to  a  temple  of  fame,  or 
l^lace  for  the  tombs  and  monuments  of  the  great 
men  of  the  nation — something  like,  perhaps,  what 
Westminister  Abbey  is  to  England.  His  succes- 
sor, however,  changed  the  destination  of  the 
structure,  and  it  is  again  an  ordinary  Roman 
Catholic  church. 

Parallel  with  the  Rue  Royale  and  one  block 
east  is  the  Rue  Castiglione,  wl^ich,  a  short  dis- 
tance up,  widens  into  a  square  called  the  Place 
Yendome,  from  the  Yendome  Column  occupying 
the  center  of  it.  This  famous  column  is  one 
hundred  and  thirty-live  feet  high  and  twelve  feet 
in  diameter,  and  is  modeled  after  Trajan's  Column 
at  Rome.  It  is  entirely  covered  with  plates  of 
bronze,  cast  from  cai^tured  cannon,  and  bearing 
reliefs  representing  various  scenes  in  Napoleon's 
campaigns.      It  was  erected  by  Napoleon  I.,  in 


THE  VENDOME  COLUMN.  217 

1805,  to  commemorate  liis  achievements,  and  is 
surmounted  by  a  statue  of  the-  emperor.  During 
the  communist  sway  in  1871  the  column  was  lev- 
eled with  the  ground,  under  the  direction  of  the 
eminent  French  painter  Courbet,  but  fortunately 
the  fragments  were  preserved  and  it  has  since 
been  restored,  all  Courbet' s  pictures  being  confis- 
cated to  help  defray  the  expense. 

A  little  north  of  the  Madeleine  and  Column 
Yendome,  and  forming  an  equilateral  triangle 
with  them,  is  the  Grand  Opera  House,  the  largest 
and  most  elegant  theatre  in  the  world.  It  was 
begun  under  the  auspices  of  Napoleon  III.,  but 
was  hot  completed  till  after  his  fall.  It  cost 
nearly  ten  million  dollars,  and  instead  of  paying 
rent  for  it  the  manager  has  a  subsidy  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  thousand  dollars  a  year  from 
government  to  keep  it  running.  It  is  opened 
every  Monday,  Wednesday  and  Friday,  admis- 
sion from  one  dollar  and  forty  cents  to  three  dol- 
lars. The  other  principal  Parisian  theatres  are 
likewise  subsidized  by  government,  but  to  a  less 
extent.  The  Grand  Opera  House  looks  down  a 
beautiful  broad  avenue  running  diagonally  to  the 
southeast,  and  terminating  near  the  Louvre, 
known  as  the  Avenue  de  V  Opera. 

Just  east  of  the  palace  of  the  Tuileries,  and 
separated  from  it  by  a  large  open  square  flanked 
by  public  offices  on  its  two  sides,  is  the  palace  of 


218  FIYE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

the  Louvre,  the  famous  art  gallery  of  Paris.  The 
building  was  begun  three  centuries  and  a  half 
ago,  but  was  only  finally  comijleted  by  Napoleon 
III.  East  of  the  Louvre  is  the  interesting  old 
church  of  St.  Germain  I'Auxerrois,  whose  bells, 
on  the  memorable  23d  of  August,  1572,  tolled  the 
signal  for  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew.  A 
few  blocks  still  further  east  and  also  near  the 
river  bank,  stood  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  the  seat  of 
the  municipal  government  of  Paris,  burned  by 
the  communists  in  1871,  when  they  found  them- 
selves unable  any  longer  to  hold  the  city  against 
the  government  troops.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  on  the  occasion  a  great  number  of  commu- 
nists perished  in  the  flames  they  had  themselves 
kindled.  A  new  building  on  the  site  of  the  old 
one  is  now  well  advanced  towards  completion. 
When  finished  it  will  be  one  of  the  finest  muni- 
cipal structures  in  the  world.  In  the  open  space 
in  front  of  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  criminals  were 
formerly  executed,  and  here,  in  1610,  Ravaillac 
was  torn  to  pieces  alive  by  horses  attached  to  his 
several  limbs,  for  the  murder  of  King  Henry  TV. , 
husband  of  Marie  de  Medici  referred  to  in  a 
former  chapter. 

Opposite  the  Hotel  de  Yille  is  a  large  island  in 
the  Seine,  upon  which  stands  the  cathedral 
church  of  Paris,  Notre  Dame.  The  latter  is  a 
large  and  very    excellent  specimen    of    Gothic 


PLACE  DE  LA  BASTILE.  219 

architecture,  the  work  of  the  thirteenth  century. 
Lower  down  on  the  island  stands  the  Palace  of 
Justice,  in  a  part  of  which,  known  as  the  Con- 
ciergerie,  fronting  the  Louvre,  Marie  Antoinette 
was  confined  prior  to  her  execution,  and  later 
Kobespierre  himself.  Opposite  the  garden  of  the 
Tuileries,  on  the  south  bank  of  the  river,  stand 
the  walls  of  the  massive  and  beautiful  building 
known  as  the  Palace  of  the  Council  of  State,  also 
burned  by  the  communists  in  1871. 

About  three-quarters  of  a  mile  east  of  the  Hotel 
de  Yille  and  at  that  point  half  a  mile  back  from 
the  river  is  the  site  of  the  old  castle  knowm  as  the 
Bastile,  destroyed  by  the  mob  in  July,  1789,  the 
event  being  the  first  step  in  the  memorable  French 
revolution.  The  outline  of  the  fortress  is  marked 
in  the  pavement  by  strips  of  smooth  stone  inlaid 
among  the  paving  stones  and  asphalt.  In  the 
center  stands  a  bronze  column  erected  as  a 
memorial  of  the  subsequent  revolution  of  1830, 
w^hich  drove  the  Bourbons  from  the  throne  and 
installed  Louis  Philippe  as  king,  who  in  turn  was 
himself  deposed  by  the  revolution  of  1848. 

A  mile  still  further  eastward,  or  bearing  slight- 
ly to  the  north,  is  the  cemetery  of  Pere  la  Chaise, 
the  famous  resting  place  of  a  great  number  of  the 
eminent  men  and  women  of  France. 

South  from  the  Place  de  la  Bastile,  and  just 
across   the  river,  is  the  celebrated    Jardin  des 


220  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

Plantes,  or  zoological  and  botanical  garden  of 
Paris.  It  was  founded  by  Louis  XIII.,  and  is 
perhaps  the  most  complete  institution  of  natural 
history  in  the  world.  It  comprises  over  sixty 
acres,  and  besides  the  very  extensive  botanical 
and  zoological  collections,  embraces  a  very  large 
library  of  works  on  natural  history,  very  exten- 
sive museums,  and  an  amphitheatre,  in  which 
free  lectures  are  periodically  given  on  the  various 
branches  of  the  science.  It  is  all  open  free  to 
the  public,  and  is  a  very  interesting  place  to 
spend  an  afternoon. 

About  three-quarters  of  a  mile  south  of  the 
Louvre,  and  of  course  on  the  south  side  of  the 
Seine,  is  the  palace  of  the  Luxembourg,  built  by 
Marie  de  Medici,  and  long  used  as  a  royal  pal- 
ace, but  now  occupied  in  part  for  the  sittings  of 
the  French  Senate  and  in  part  as  a  gallery  for 
modern  works  of  art,  the  property  of  the  nation. 

Half  a  mile  south  of  the  river,  at  a  point  a  little 
west  of  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  is  the  soldiers' 
home,  known  as  the  Invalides,  a  very  large  edi- 
fice built  by  Louis  XIY.,  but  which  at  present 
contains  but  about  five  hundred  inmates.  The 
chapel  or  church  connected  with  this  institution 
contains  the  tomb  of  Napoleon  I.  This  church  is 
a  large  and  elegant  one,  built  by  the  famous 
architect  Mansard,  the  inventor  of  the  mansard 
roof,  and  completed  in  1706.     The  tomb,  com- 


THE  INVALIDES.  221 

pleted  in  1861,  at  a  cost  of  one  million  eight 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  was  constructed  by- 
taking  up  tke  pavement  of  a  large  circular  space 
under  the  dome  so  as  to  expose  the  crypt  below. 
In  the  sort  of  circular  well  thus  formed  stands 
the  sarcophagus  containing  the  remains  of  the 
emperor,  and  it  is  looked  down  upon  from  the 
gallery  which  the  remainder  of  the  old  pavement 
now  forms.  The  floor  of  the  well  or  pit  is  richly 
laid,  in  mosaic  and  the  sides  are  ornamented  with 
statuary.  In  the  center  stands  the  sarcophagus 
of  porphyry,  which  weighs  sixty- seven  tons,  and 
took  sixteen  years  to  polish.  With  its  base  and 
cover  it  is  thirteen  and-a-half  feet  high.  A  more 
imposing  tomb  could  hardly  have  been  devised. 

In  chapels  adjoining  are  the  marble  sarcophagi 
of  Napoleon's  brothers  Joseph,  king  of  Spain, 
and  Jerome,  king  of  Westphalia;  also  monu- 
ments to  Yauban  and  Turenne,  two  eminent 
French  generals  of  Louis  XIV's  time,  and  here 
also  are  collected  the  flags  captured  by  the 
French  armies  in  the  various  battles  of  the  past 
two  or  three  centuries. 

West  of  the  Invalides  a  short  distance  is  the 
Champ  de  Mars,  a  large  .open  space  extending 
from  the  military  school  to  the  river,  upon  which 
the  international  exhibitions  of  1867  and  1878 
were  held.  It  is  now  in  a  state  of  disorder  from 
the  buildings  of  the  last  exhibition  having  only 
recently  been  removed. 


222 


FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 


It  will  be  seen  from  the  above  that  almost  all 
the  buildings  and  localities  of  historic  interest  are 
embraced  in  a  belt  extending  across  the  city  from 
east  to  west. 


ABC  DK  TRIO&IPHE. 


CHAPTER  XXIY. 

PARIS  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  FRENCH  HISTORY— THE  REIGNS  AND 
REVOLUTIONS  OF  THREE  CENTURIES— THE  BOIS  DE  BOU- 
LOGNE—PERE  LA  CHAISE  CEMETERY— THE  OMNIBUSES  AND 
SHOPS  OF  PARIS— THE  NATIONAL  ARCHIVES. 


^^HE  history  of  France  is  so  intimately  inter- 
^  J    woven  with  the  history  and  associations  of 

\  Paris,  that  a  review  of  the  successive 
reigns  and  revolutions  for  three  centuries  past  is 
almost  essential  to  an  intelligent  description  of 
the  modern  French  capital. 

As  school  children  we  were  all  familiar  with 
Macauley's  spirited  poem,   "Ivry,"  beginning — 

Now  glory  to  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  from  whom  all  glories  are  I 
And  glory  to  our  Sovereign  Liege,  King  Henry  of  Navarre! 

and  in  which  the  prowess  of  the  white-plumed 
knight.  King  Henry  of  Navarre,  is  immortalized. 
This  Henry  was  the  champion  of  the  protestant 
forces  in  the  religious  war  which  wasted  France 
in  the  latter  half  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Peace 
was  finally  restored  by  the  accession  of  Henry  to 
the  throne  in  1589,  under  the  title  of  Henry  IV., 
and  by  his  returning  to  the  bosom  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  church,  while,  however,  he  still  contin- 
ued to  protect  his  old  allies  the  Huguenots,  or 


224  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

French  protestants.  One  of  the  most  popnlar 
pictures  in  the  Louvre,  with  engravers  and  copy- 
ists, is  Gerard's  ''Entry  of  Henry  TV.  into 
Paris."  Henry  married  Marie  de  Medici,  an  able 
princess  of  the  famous  Florentine  family,  and 
became  the  first  of  the  great  line  of  Bourbon 
kings,  which  ruled  France  for  more  than  two  cen- 
turies. We  often  hear  obtuse  and  bigoted  people 
compared  to  the  Bourbons,  but  really  for  a  cen- 
tury and  a  half  the  Bourbons  were  great  and  able 
princes,  and  under  their  rule  France  enjoyed  her 
golden  era.  Henry  married  the  Italian  princess 
in  1600.  In  the  picture  gallery  of  the  Louvre  one 
of  the  loudest,  if  not  most  meritorious,  exhib- 
its, is  a  series  of  mammoth  paintings  by  Rubens, 
fulsomely  adulatory  of  Marie  de  Medici.  They 
are  remarkable  for  their  size  and  disgusting  flat- 
tery, perhaps,  even  more  than  for  their  artistic 
excellences.  Henry  IV.  was  a  brave  soldier  and 
popular  ruler,  but  he  did  not  get  on  comfortably 
with  his  Italian  wife,  and  in  1610  was  stabbed  to 
death  while  riding  in  the  Rue  St.  Honore — the 
next  street  to  that  our  hotel  was  on — by  one 
Ravaillac,  whose  horrible  punishment  by  being 
torn  in  pieces  by  horses  was  alluded  to  in  the  last 
chapter.  At  the  lower  end  of  the  island  in  the 
Seine  upon  which  stands  the  Cathedral  of  Notre 
Dame,  is  a  fine  bronze  equestrian  statue  of  Henry 
lY.     At  his  death  his  widow,  Marie  de  Medici, 


MARIE  DE  MEDICI.  225 

governed  France  as  regent  during  the  minority  of 
their  son,  Louis  XIII.  The  famous  Cardinal 
Kichelieu  (born  1585,  died  1642)  was  her  prime 
minister.  Both  queen  and  cardinal  were  ambi- 
tious, unscrupulous  and  intriguing,  and  soon  an 
active  contest  for  the  supreme  power  sprang  up 
between  them,  in  which  the  long-headed  cardinal 
was  ultimately  victorious.  The  queen  erected 
for  her  royal  residence  the  splendid  palace  of  the 
Luxembourg.  The  cardinal  built  the  very  much 
more  extensive  and  elegant  palace  now  known  as 
the  Palais  Royal.  The  queen  was,  by  the  mach- 
inations of  Richelieu,  finally  deposed  and  made  a 
prisoner  in  1631.  Then  she  became  a  wanderer 
without  home  or  country,  and  finally  died  in 
great  poverty  in  Cologne  in  1642 — the  precise 
year  that  her  unrelenting  antagonist  himself 
departed  this  life.  Her  heart  lies  buried  in  the 
choir  of  Cologne  Cathedral. 

Louis  XIII.,  surnamed  "the  Just,"  proved 
himself  an  excellent  prince.  It  was  he  who 
founded  the  French  Academy  and  the  Jardin  des 
Plantes,  and  who  built  the  Chateau  of  Versailles, 
which  his  successor  enlarged  into  the  present  pal- 
ace. He  reigned  for  thirty-three  years,  and  was 
cotemporary  with  James  I.  and  Charles  I.  of  Eng- 
land. 

He  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Louis  XIY.,  sur- 
named "le  Grande,"  or  "the  Great,"  who  reigned 

15 


226  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

for  the  long  period  of  seventy-two  years,  being 
cotemporary  with  the  Commonwealth  and  with 
the  reigns  of  Charles  II.,  James  II.,  William  and 
Mary,  and  Anne,  in  English  history.  He  died 
one  year  after  the  accession  of  George  I.  of  Eng- 
land. Under  the  great  military  engineer,  Yau- 
ban,  and  the  famous  marshal  Turenne,  whose 
tombs  help  to  grace  the  sepulchre  of  Napoleon  I., 
the  military  prestige  of  France  under  Louis  XIV. 
was  very  great.  By  this  monarch  the  city  was 
very  much  enlarged,  the  quays  of  the  Seine  faced 
with  stone,  the  Champs  Elysees  laid  out,  the  Inva- 
lides  founded,  also  the  Astronomical  Observatory 
and  other  important  public  institutions.  The 
wealth  of  France  was  so  great  at  that  time,  and 
the  rage  for  luxury  so  excessive,  that  Louis  is 
reported  to  have  spent  $240,000,000  upon  the 
palace  and  grounds  of  Versailles  alone.  Every 
one  has  heard  of  the  famous  fountains  of  Ver- 
sailles. Their  magnificence  may  be  judged  from 
the  fact  that  it  costs  about  one  hundred  dollars 
per  minute  to  supply  the  water  for  them.  Such 
was  the  scale  of  Louis's  extravagance,  and  such 
the  preparation  for  the  national  exhaustion  which 
precipitated  the  revolution  of  1789. 

He  was  followed  by  his  great-grandson,  Louis 
XV.,  who  reigned  fifty-nine  years,  or  from  1715 
to  1774,  and  did  much  for  the  improvement  and 
adornment  of  Paris.     He  in  turn  was  succeeded 


THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION.  227 

by  his  grandson,  the  unfortunate  Louis  XYI ,  a 
man  of  excellent  character  and  disposition,  but 
pcwGiiess  to  mitigate  the  evils  into  which  the  state 
had  now  fallen  by  the  luxury  and  extravagance 
of  more  than  a  century.  Driven  to  desperation, 
the  people  rose  in  insurrection,  and  their  first 
achievement  was  the  capture  and  destruction  of 
the  Bastile.  At  Sevres  is  to  be  seen  a  model  of 
the  old  fortress.  It  was  nearly  rectangular  in 
form,  with  a  round  tower  at  each  corner  and  others 
midway  the  length  of  each  side — six  in  all — and 
the  building  was  very  high  in  proportion  to  its 
width.  It  formed  part  of  the  ancient  wall  at  the 
eastern  extremity  of  the  city,  but  the  enlargement 
of  the  city  had  left  it  far  inside  the  walls. 
Other  relics  of  the  ancient  walls  are  found  in  the 
old  gateways  known  as  Porte  St.  Denis  and  Porte 
St.  Martin,  which  are  still  left  standing  in  the 
Boulevard  St.  Martin,  some  distance  north  of  the 
Bastile.  Their  success  in  capturing  the  Bastile 
on  July  14th,  1789,  gave  the  people  a  confidence 
which  nothing  could  now  withstand.  The  royal 
family  were  soon  prisoners.  One  of  the  most 
noticeable  buildings  on  the  south  bank  of  the 
Seine  is  the  Conciergerie,  with  its  two  feudal 
towers,  where  the  beautiful  queen,  Marie  Antoin- 
nette,  was  confined.  The  Temple,  the  other 
prison  of  the  royal  family,  has  been  long  since 
destroyed.     An  organized  attempt  of  the  other 


228  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

European  powers  in  1793  to  reinstate  Louis  on 
tlie  tlirone  by  force,  iDrecipitated  both  his  and  his 
queen' s  destruction  by  the  fatal  guillotine.  Their 
bodies  were  obscurely  interred  in  the  church 
yard  of  the  Madeleine,  situated  a  little  distance 
north  of  the  church  itself.  Here  they  remained 
till  royalty  was  restored  in  France,  when  their 
bones  were  exhumed  and  reburied  in  the  Church 
of  St.  Denis,  the  resting  place  of  a  long  line  of 
kings.  A  chapel,  known  as  the  Chapel  of  the 
Expiation,  was  erected  over  their  former  graves, 
a  sarcophagus  in  the  crypt  below  occupying  the 
exact  spot  where  their  bodies  were  laid.  The 
present  Church  of  the  Madeleine,  by  the  way,  was 
begun  by  Louis  XVI.,  who  inherited  the  fondness 
for  building  of  his  ancestors. 

Like  most  republics,  but  far  sooner  than  some, 
the  French  republic  of  the  eighteenth  century 
in  time  degenerated  into  an  empire.  Napo- 
leon Bonaparte  was  crowned  emperor  in  1804, 
and  during  his  twelve  years'  reign  upwards  of 
$20,000,000  was  expended  in  public  buildings 
in  Paris.  Among  the  reminders  of  this  epoch 
are  the  magnificent  Arc  de  Triomphe,  mentioned 
in  a  former  chapter;  a  smaller  triumphal  arch 
in  front  of  the  Tuileries,  upon  which  the  four 
antique  bronze  horses  stolen  by  Napoleon  from 
St.  Mark's  in  Venice  stood,  until  restored  to 
Venice  in  1814;  the  Madeleine  in  its  completed 


THE  REVOLUTION  OF  1830.  229 

form ;  the  Yendome  Column ;  the  magnificent 
Bourse,  or  stock  exchange,  and  various  other 
useful  and  ornamental  structures.  Napoleon  was 
finally  defeated  and  sent  to  St.  Helena  in  1815, 
and  Louis  XVIII.,  a  younger  brother  of  Louis 
XYI.,  came  to  the  throne.  (Louis  XVII.,  son  of 
Louis  XVI.,  reigned  only  in  a  Pickwickian  sense, 
and  died  before  the  restoration  of  his  family. )  He 
was  followed  ten  years  later  by  a  still  younger 
brother,  Charles  X.,  a  corpulent  old  gentleman, 
more  given  to  religion  than  statesmanship. 

The  country  was  still  in  a  bad  state,  and  even  a 
much  abler  man  would  have  found  it  difficult  to 
pilot  the  nation  through  the  existing  hard  times. 
And  so,  on  the  27th  of  July,  1830,  another  revolu- 
tion broke  out.  For  three  days  there  was  con- 
siderable fighting  and  then  King ,  Charles  betook 
himself  to  flight  and  left  the  government  once 
more  in  the  hands  of  the  populace.  This  i evolu- 
tion is  commemorated  by  a  bronze  column  in  the 
Place  de  la  Bastile,  known  as  the  Column  of  July, 
and  inscribed  all  over  with  the  names  of  the  men 
v^^ho  fell  in  the  three  days  fighting.  The  "  Rue 
du  29  Juliet,"  which  leads  out  of  the  Hue  de 
Kivoli,  also  perpetuates  the  memory  of  this  com- 
pact little  revolution.  This  time  the  French  peo- 
ple did  not  attempt  a  republic,  but,  by  acclama- 
tion elected  as  king,  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  a 
descendant  of  a  younger  brother  of  Louis  XIV. , 


230  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

a  man  of  some  popularity,  but  no  donbt  a  good 
deal  of  a  demagogue.  He  accepted  the  crown  as 
Louis  Philippe  I.  It  was  during  his  reign  of 
eighteen  years  that  the  obelisk  of  Luxor  was 
erected  in  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  and  that  the 
palace  of  Versailles,  which  had  been  sacked  by  the 
mob  in  the  first  revolution,  and  had  since  been  in 
a  ruinous  condition,  was  partially  restored  at  the 
king's  private  expense  and  converted  into  a  gal- 
lery of  historical  paintings.  Louis  Philippe  was 
rich,  and  though  miserly,  he  spent  three  million 
dollars  on  this  work. 

Louis  Philii)pe  went  out  on  the  revolution  of 
1848,  retired  to  England  and  died  there  a  few 
years  later.  He  was  succeeded  by  the  second 
republic,  which  even  sooner  than  the  first,  became 
stranded  in  imperialism.  Then  came  the  era  of 
Napoleon  III.,  the  public  buildings  of  which 
period  are  ostentatiously  marked  with  a  capital 
N.  The  blackened  ruins  of  the  Tuileries  and  the 
funeral  wreaths  that  fill  the  lap  of  the  statue  of 
Strassburg,  one  of  eight  colossal  figures,  symbolic 
of  eight  principal  cities  of  France,  which  grace 
the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  are  the  sad  reminders 
of  the  gloomy  ending  of  the  brilliant  but  unstable 
regime  of  the  grandson  of  the  Empress  Josephine. 
It  seems  strange  that  so  mild,  good-natured  and 
polite  a  people  as  all  the  French  seem  to  be, 
should  ever  have  become  aroused  to  such  deeds  of 


THE  BOIS  DE  BOULOGNE.  231 

horror  and  destruction  as  characterized  the  reign 
of  the  commune  of  1871.  The  third  republic 
seems  to  have  settled  down  into  a  successful  per- 
manence. 

One  thing  that  particularly  strikes  a  stranger 
in  Paris  is  the  legend  "Liberte,  Egalite,  Frater- 
nite,"  carved  or  painted  upon  every  public  build- 
ing, even  the  churches.  I  don't  know  how  the 
Koman  ecclesiastics  like  this  conversion  of  sacred 
edifices  into  political  signboards,  but  they  cannot 
help  themselves,  for  the  ultra-democratic  watch- 
word is  in  most  cases  indelibly  cut  in  the  stone 
and  usually  in  the  most  conspicuous  place  about 
the  edifice. 

Everybody  has  heard  of  the  Bois  de  Boulogne. 
It  is  a  tract  of  about  two  thousand  acres  lying 
just  outside  the  walls,  to  the  southwest  of  the 
city,  and  is  the  property  of  the  municipality.  A 
few  years  ago  it  was  a  forest  of  fine  large  trees, 
but  the  exigences  of  the  war  of  1870  compelled 
their  destruction,  and  now  it  is  for  the  most  part 
a  jungle  of  young  trees  and  underbrush,  inter- 
sected in  every  direction  by  splendid  carriage 
drives.  It  has  a  lake,  a  cascade,  places  for 
refreshment,  and  some  lawns  and  flower  beds ; 
but  it  is  mainly  what  its  name  signifies,  ''the 
forest"  of  Boulogne.  It  is  the  favorite  drive  of 
the  Parisians. 

Pere  la  Chaise,  the  principal  cemetery  in  Paris, 


232  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

is  situated  on  rising  ground  in  tlie  eastern  part  of 
the  city,  and  is  one  of  the  least  interesting  ceme- 
teries that  I  have  ever  visited.  The  carriage 
roads  are  paved  with  rough  blocks  of  stone,  there 
are  few  trees  or  flowers,  no  grass,  and  a  surpris- 
ing paucity  of  sculpture  and  artistic  monuments. 
All  along  the  carriage  ways,  on  both  sides,  are 
continuous  lines  of  sepulchral  chapels,  each  usu- 
ally three  or  four  feet  wide,  six  or  eight  feet  deep, 
and  high  enough  for  a  person  to  stand  in  conve- 
niently. Each  has  a  grated  door  in  front  and  a 
little  altar  in  the  interior,  with  the  names  of  the 
deceased  cut  in  marble  slabs  above.  Throughout, 
the  cemetery  is  very  much  crowded.  The  monu- 
ments are  of  ordinary  stone  and  display  little  of 
the  good  taste  upon  which  Paris  prides  itself.  To 
the  right  of  the  entrance  is  the  Jewish  section, 
and  here  is  conspicuous  the  tomb  of  Rachel,  one 
of  the  greatest  actresses  the  world  has  yet  pro- 
duced. Her  tomb  is  noticeable  for  being  penciled 
over  with  hundreds  of  autographs — I  might 
almost  say  thousands.  A  little  beyond  is  the 
famous  tomb  of  Abelard,  the  learned  monk,  and 
his  inamorata,  Heloise,  the  love  of  whom  has 
been  so  celebrated  for  over  seven  centuries.  The 
tomb  is  a  simple  rectangular  structure,  surmount- 
ed by  recumbent  effigies  of  the  deceased,  side  by 
side,  the  whole  being  crowned  by  an  open  Gothic 
canopy  of  considerable  size.     It  is  amusing  to 


PERE  LA  CHAISE.  233 

observe  the  romance  of  tlie  Parisians,  who,  not- 
withstanding the  fact  that  the  naughty  couple 
have  been  dead  a  matter  of  seven  hundred  and 
forty  years,  still  testify  their  admiration  for  them 
by  huge  heaps  of  bouquets  and  funeral  wreaths 
strewn  upon  the  grave. 

In  a  small  inclosure,  unmarked  by  any  stone, 
but  cultivated  as  a  flower-bed,  lie  the  remains  of 
Marshal  Ney,  one  of  Napoleon's  most  gallant 
officers.  When  Napoleon  was  banished  to  Elba 
in  1814,  Ney  gave  in  his  allegiance  to  the  restored 
Bourbon  government  of  Louis  XVIII.,  and  was 
rewarded  with  the  chief  command  of  the  French 
army.  When,  a  few  months  later,  Napoleon  sud- 
denly returned  to  France  from  Elba,  Ney  proved 
unfaithful  to  his.  trust,  and  hastened  to  join  his 
old  master,  taking  the  entire  army  with  him. 
For  this  act  of  treachery,  after  the  defeat  of 
Waterloo  in  June,  1815,  he  was  tried  by  court-mar- 
tial and  shot.  A  little  farther  on,  in  one  enclosure, 
are  the  tombs  of  Moliere,  the  French  dramatist, 
and  La  Fontaine^  the  well  known  author  of  the 
fables.  The  tomb  of  Bernardin  St.  Pierre,  the 
delightful  author  of  Paul  and  Virginia,  is  also 
in  the  same  vicinity,  and  without  much  diffi- 
culty may  be  found  the  tombs  of  Chopin,  Rossini, 
Cherubini,  Talma,  Eugene  Scribe,  Racine,  Beran- 
ger,  David,  Arago,  La  Place,  Marshals  Kel- 
lerman,  Suchet,  Macdonald,  Massina,  and  many 


234  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

other  eminent  men.  Frequently  in  passing 
through  the  cemetery,  we  see  tombs  marked 
with  an  inscription  indicating  a  perpetual  right 
to  the  ground.  Where  this  perpetual  right  is 
not  obtained,  the  bodies  are  dug  up  after  a  cer- 
tain term  of  years,  and  the  grave  is  resold  to  a 
new  occupant.  The  bones  in  such  cases  are 
deposited  in  the  catacombs,  or  subterranean  gal- 
leries that  underlie  much  of  Paris. 

One  of  the  most  commendable  things  about 
Paris  is  its  splendid  omnibus  system.  Street 
railways  are  only  partially  introduced.  The 
omnibuses  are  ponderous  vehicles,  carrying  six- 
teen to  eighteen  inside,  and  as  many  on  top,  and 
drawn  by  three  horses  driven  abreast.  On  the 
fine,  smooth  pavements  they  roll  along  beauti- 
fully, though  severe  on  the  horses  on  first  start- 
ing, and  on  ascending  hills.  A  splendid  general 
idea  of  Paris  can  be  gained  from  the  top  of  an 
omnibus,  and  as  it  is  easily  reached  by  spiral 
stairs  from  a  platform  in  the  rear,  ladies  can 
enjoy  an  outside  ride  as  well  as  the  other  sex. 
The  fare  uniformly  is  thirty  centimes  inside  and 
fifteen  out  (6  and  3  cents),  and  for  these  sums 
you  can  ride  astonishingly  long  distances. 

Everything  in  the  way  of  fancy  articles  is  dis- 
played with  wonderful  prodigality  in  the  shop 
windows  of  Paris.  The  jewelry  stores,  picture 
stores,  toy  shops,  and  every  other  branch  of  fancy 


PARIS  SHOPS.  235 

and  art  dealing,  are  numbered  by  the  legion,  and 
ttie  prices  marked  are  astonishingly  low;  but 
give  the  Parisian  shopkeepers  an  opportunity  to 
make  a  special  charge,  and  Paris  becomes  the 
dearest  city  in  the  world.  A  pair  of  the  best  kid 
gloves  can  be  bought  for  sixty  or  seventy  cents, 
but  if  a  button  is  lost  they  will  charge  you  twenty 
cents  for  sewing  one  on  again.  So  everything 
made  to  order  is  probably  quite  as  expensive  as 
at  home. 

Two  favorite  places  with  the  ladies  are  the 
Magazins  de  Louvre  and  the  Bon  Marche,  two 
extensive  dry  goods  stores,  each  covering  an 
entire  block,  and  each  overloaded  with  stock 
and  swarming  with  customers.  The  extent  of 
their  business  may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that 
at  the  latter  place  there  are  cashiers  numbered 
from  one  to  sixty-four,  and  perhaps  even  higher, 
and  all  are  as  busy  as  bees  in  taking  in  money 
and  recording  the  amounts.  The  building  con- 
tains three  stories,  all  connected  by  a  dozen  large 
wells,  with  skylights  above,  and  innumerable 
staircases.  Such  a  lively  scene  as  is  here  wit- 
nessed can  probably  nowhere  else  be  found. 

Another  famous  resort  is  the  Palais  Royale. 
The  Orleans  family,  to  whom  it  belonged  in  the 
last  century,  became  financially  embarrassed,  and 
to  replenish  their  exchequer  they  converted  the 
ground  floor  of  this  spacious  palace  of  Riche- 


236  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

lieu  into  stores,  which  open  upon  the  gardens 
which  the  palace  incloses.  These  stores  are  occu- 
pied mainly  by  jewelers,  and  there  must  be  over 
a  hundred  of  them  here  congregated.  Their  win- 
dows are  resplendent  with  gold  and  gems  in  every 
possible  style  of  ornament.  The  Palais  E-oyale 
is  situated  a  little  north  of  and  facing  the  Louvre. 

Paris  sadly  needs  ^  visit  from  Anthony  Com- 
stock.  Judging  by  their  titles,  the  most  dis- 
graceful class  of  books  are  publicly  exposed  for 
sale ;  and  that  too  in  respectable  shops  and  on  the 
best  streets.  Nude  pictures  are  seen  in  the  shop 
windows  by  tens  of  thousands,  and  pictures  with- 
out the  least  affectation  of  modesty,  such  as  is 
usually  given  by  artists  to  nude  statuary.  Paris 
may  be  no  more  immoral  than  other  cities,  but  it 
will  take  the  palm  for  indelicacy. 

In  Paris  again  we  find  the  ''continental  Sun- 
day." Builders  are  at  work  just  as  on  other 
days,  and  the  streets  are  equally  as  cumbered 
with  great  trucks  with  their  immense  loads  of 
squared  stone,  drawn  by  five  or  six  horses.  Fully 
two- thirds  of  the  shops  are  open,  and  apparently 
as  much  business  is  done  in  the  aggregate  as  on 
any  other  day.  But,  while  a  large  share  of  the 
population  thus  toil,  a  still  larger  share  would 
seem  to  throng  the  cafes,  the  seats  in  the  public 
parks  and  the  picture  galleries ;  and,  from  the 
amount  of  riding  on  the  Champs  Ely^ees,  one 


THE  GAY  LIFE  OF  PARIS.  237 

wonld  think  there  was  not  an  idle  horse  in  all 
Paris.  At  night  the  Champs  Elysees  is  brilliantly 
illuminated  and  all  sorts  of  shows  and  amuse- 
ments are  in  full  blast. 

Paris  is  very  gay  and  brilliant  every  fine  even- 
ing. The  streets  are  well  lighted,  the  Avenue  de 
r  Opera  being  lighted  with  the  electric  light  for 
its  entire  length,  and  the  sidewalks  thronged 
with  a  gay  and  careless  crowd  till  well  into  the 
night. 

Paris  churches,  excepting  perhaps  Notre  Dame 
which  is  pure  Gothic,  and  the  Madeleine  which 
is  pure  Grecian,  are  of  a  style  peculiar  to  Paris, 
in  which  there  is  a  happy  blending  of  many  fea- 
tures of  both  the  Gothic  and  Italian  styles  such 
as  I  had  not  seen  elsewhere. 

In  Paris  the  fuel  used  is  chiefly  wood  and  char- 
coal. Both  are  sold  by  weight,  and  not  in  great 
wood  yards  like  ours,  but  in  little  shops  scattered 
all  over  the  city,  each  of  which  is  frescoed  all 
over  its  front  with  representations  of  piles  of 
stove  wood.  Much  of  the  wood  burned  is  mere 
twigs  smaller  than  your  finger,  such  as  we  in 
America  consume  in  brush  heaps  and  are  glad  to 
get  rid  of.  Every  splinter,  however,  is  saved  in 
thrifty  France. 

The  Palace  of  Justice  swarms  with  lawyers,  all 
in  black  gowns,  white  bands,  and  little  stiff  four- 
cornered  caps,  •  and    every  one  with  a  morocco 


238  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD, 

portfolio  under  Ms  arm  —  a  very  gentlemanly 
looking  lot  of  men.  By  the  way,  they  have  a 
system  in  France  which  we  might  do  well  to 
copy.  Before  any  action  at  law  can  be  brought 
the  case  must  come  before  an  official  arbitrator, 
who  uses  his  best  efforts  to  bring  about  a  settle- 
ment between  the  parties  without  the  formality 
of  a  trial.  Such  a  system  with  us  would  certainly 
diminish  litigation  one-half. 

One  day  we  strolled  into  the  fine  palace  devoted 
to  the  national  archives.  The  papers  of  the  gov- 
ernment are  admirably  kept,  either  bound  up 
into  volumes  or  packed  in  paste-board  boxes  of 
uniform  size,  and  all  properly  labeled  and  ranged 
on  shelves  extending  from  floor  to  ceiling  through 
a  great  multitude  of  rooms.  Our  city  clerks,  if 
not  our  state  officers,  could  take  a  useful  lesson 
from  the  perfect  order  with  which  the  multifari- 
ous documents  of  two  hundred  years  of  govern- 
ment are  here  maintained.  The  more  interesting 
and  valuable  documents,  such  as  treaties,  letters 
of  royal  personages,  etc.,  are  arranged  in  vertical 
glass  cases  so  that  they  can  be  easily  examined,  a 
curtain  covering  the  case  to  prevent  any  injurious 
effects  of  the  light.  These  cases  fill  a  number  of 
large  rooms  and  are'  chronologically  arranged. 
Some  of  the  instruments  bear  the  signature  of 
Charlemagne  himself,  and  every  king  since  is 
more  or  less  represented.     Among  the  curious 


THE  NATIONAL  ARCHIVES.  239 

papers  are  the  will  of  Louis  XYI. ;  the  last  letter 
written  by  Marie  Antoinette ;  various  papers  in 
the  handwriting  of  Robespierre ;  a  letter  of  Char- 
lotte Corday,  written  from  the  prison  where  she 
was  confined  for  the  assassination  of  Marat ;  Liv- 
ingston' s  commission  as  minister  to  France,  signed 
by  Thomas  Jefferson,  and  a  host  of  other  interest- 
ing autographs. 


CHAPTER  XXY. 

THE  ART  GALLERIES  OF  PARIS— THE  ART  SCHOOL— THE  SALON^ 
THE  LUXEMBOURG— THE  LOUVRE-ST.  DENIS— VERSAILLES 
—THE  SEINE— SEVRES  AND  THE  NATIONAL  PORCELAIN 
FACTORY. 

ARIS  probably  ranks  first  among  the  cities 
of  Europe  as  an  art  center.  It  has  a  very- 
extensive  school  of  the  fine  arts,  liberally 
supported  by  the  government.  This  school  has 
three  professors  of  painting,  three  of  sculpture, 
three  of  architecture,  one  of  line  engraving  and 
one  of  die  sinking — eleven  in  all.  Liberal  jDrizes 
are  given  for  the  greatest  advancement  made  by 
the  students,  the  chief  prize  each  year  being  a 
scholarship  for  four  years'  study  in  Italy,  with 
all  expenses  paid.  The  effect  of  this  school  has 
been  to  give  France  a  surprising  number  of  capa- 
ble artists,  as  is  evinced  by  the  fact  that  the 
annual  Salon  for  the  present  year  (1881)  had  no 
fewer  than  two  thousand  five  hundred  pictures 
and  eight  hundred  pieces  of  statuary  entered  in 
competition  for  the  various  prizes.  It  should  be 
understood  that  the  Salon  is  an  annual  exhibition 
under  government  auspices,  open  to  all  French 
artists,  and  the  principal  prizes  awarded  at  it 
are  highly  esteemed.     The  best  works  are  pur- 


THE  FRENCH  SALON.  241 

chased  from  time  to  time  by  the  government  and 
deposited  in  the  gallery  of  the  Luxembourg. 
When  an  artist  becomes  very  famous,  his  works 
are  promoted  to  places  in  the  gallery  of  the 
Louvre,  where  they  hang  in  the  company  of  the 
old  masters.  Thus  the  Salon  represents  the  cur- 
rent year's  productions  in  art,  the  Luxembourg 
gallery  the  chefs  Woume  of  living  or  recent 
French  artists,  and  the  Louvre  the  works  of  the 
most  famous  painters  and  sculptors  of  all  ages 
and  countries. 

The  Salon  is  held  in  the  building  facing  the 
Champs  Elysees,  constructed  for  the  great  inter- 
national exposition  of  1855.  It  was  afterwards 
purchased  by  the  government  and  christened  the 
Palace  of  Industry. 

The  Luxembourg  is  open  free  to  the  public. 
It  contains  about  three  hundred  paintings  and 
one  hundred  pieces  of  sculpture,  and  is  a  very 
interesting  gallery  to  visit,  as  the  works  are  care- 
fully selected  and  are  all  comparatively  modern 
and  not  dimmed  by  age.  Among  the  most  notable 
painters  represented  are  Rosa  Bonheur,  the  fam- 
ous horse  and  cattle  painter;  Bouguereau,  the 
greatest  living  French  artist ;  Courbet,  the  com- 
munist of  Column  Vendome  notoriety,  who  died 
in  1877;  Lefebvre,  one  of  the  greatest  living 
painters  of  the  nude;  Meissonier,  whose  works 
are  reputed  to  command  the  highest  prices  paid 

16 


242  FIYE  3I0NTHS  ABROAD. 

to  any  living  artist;  Gustave  Dore,  Bertrand, 
Corot  (died  1875),  Giraud,  Giroux,  Goupil,  Millet 
(died  1875),  and  others. 

The  Louvre  is  probably  the  most  extensive 
museum  of  art  in  the  world.  It  occupies  four 
stories  of  an  immense  range  of  buildings  forming 
the  four  sides  of  one  large  quadrangle  and  a  por- 
tion of  another.  It  embraces  in  its  scope  much 
more  than  galleries  of  painting.  IsTo  country 
has  a  finer  collection  of  Egyptian  antiquities  than 
France,  and  these  occupy  a  portion  of  the  Louvre. 
Then  there  are  Assyrian,  Grecian  and  Koman 
antiquities,  Chinese  and  Japanese  curiosities,  a 
very  extensive  general  ethnological  museum, 
several  rooms  filled  with  naval  models,  relief 
models  of  the  Suez  Canal  and  of  the  various  har- 
bors of  France,  an  immense  collection  of  porce- 
lain, ancient  and  modern,  and  many  rooms  filled 
with  drawings  and  designs.  Simply  to  walk 
through  the  different  rooms  without  giving  much 
time  to  examination  and  study,  is  alone  the  work 
of  several  days. 

In  the  number  of  its  oil  paintings  the  gallery 
of  the  Louvre  is  probably  unsurpassed  by  any 
other  collection  in  Europe,  but  in  sculpture  it  is 
secondary  to  the  galleries  of  the  Vatican.  It 
contains,  however,  one  object  of  priceless  value 
and  incomi)arable  beauty  in  the  Venus  of  Milo, 
an  antique  statue  found  some  years  ago  in  one  of 


THE  FRENCH  PAINTERS.  243 

the  islands  of  the  Grecian  archipelago,  and  which, 
though  mutilated,  both  arms  being  wanting,  pos- 
sesses a  symmetry  and  grace  that  cannot  fail  to 
strike  even  the  least  cultivated  eye.  It  is  pecu- 
liarly the  gem  of  the  statuary  galleries  of  the 
Louvre. 

The  picture  galleries  are  really  tiresome  in  their 
extent.  All  the  various  schools  are  represented, 
but  naturally  the  French  predominates.  The 
most  famous  of  the  older  French  painters  are 
Nicholas  Poussin  (1594-1665),  Gaspar  Poussin 
(1613-1675),  and  Claude  Lorraine  (1600-1682). 
Their  pictures  differ  from  those  of  the  Italian  mas- 
ters in  making  the  landscape  a  principal  feature, 
whereas  the  Italians  rarely  gave  any  attention  to 
anything  but  the  figures.  Claude's  pictures  are 
very  numerous  and  can  easily  be  picked  out  with- 
out the  aid  of  a  catalogue.  They  have  a  dreamy 
arcadian  sort  of  air,  peculiar  to  themselves. 
Greuze  (1725-1805)  was  really  a  beautiful  painter. 
His  works  in  the  Louvre  are  not  numerous  but 
are,  every  one,  gems  of  art.  The  contrast  between 
Greuze  and  any  one  of  the  old  Italian  nlasters  is 
very  striking,  and  I  am  sure  nine  out  of  ten  of 
my  readers  would  prefer  the  French  artist.  David 
(1748-1825)  is  also  highly  esteemed.  Among  the 
more  renowned  later  artists  are  Robert,  Dela- 
roche,  Vernet,  Delacroix  and  others. 

Twelve  miles  south  of  Paris  lies  the  city  of 


244  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

Yersailles.  When  the  principal  seat  of  the  court 
of  France,  a  century  ago,  it  was  a  place  of  a 
hundred  thousand  inhabitants,  but  it  has  now 
scarcely  a  third  as  many.  Its  principal  attrac- 
tion is  an  immense  palace,  built  by  Louis  XIY., 
with  a  large  park,  adorned  with  magnificent  ave- 
nues of  trees  and  the  finest  fountains  in  the 
world.  The  palace  itself  has  a  frontage  of  a 
quarter  of  a  mile,  and  commands  a  splendid  view 
to  the  southward.  The  amount  of  money  said  to 
have  been  spent  on  this  palace,  staggers  belief. 
For  a  century  it  was  the  principal  residence  of 
the  kings  of  France  ;  then  it  was  sacked,  and  in 
great  measure  destroyed,  by  the  revolutionists  of 
1789,  and  later  was  converted  into  a  gun  factory. 
Napoleon  I.  thought  of  restoring  it  for  his 
Imperial  residence,  but  the  estimated  cost,  ten 
million  dollars,  frightened  him,  and  the  x)roperty 
remained  a  ruin  up  to  the  time  of  Louis  Philippe. 
That  king  sj^ent  a  large  sum  from  his  i)rivate 
resources  in  a  partial  restoration,  and  collected 
there  some  five  thousand  modern  pictures  illustra- 
tive of  French  history.  The  historical  scenes  are 
arranged  by  reigns,  from  Charlemagne  down  to 
Louis  Philippe,  and  many  of  these  are  large  and 
spirited  pictures  by  the  most  eminent  artists  of 
the  century.  Another  series  of  rooms  is  devoted 
to  pictures  illustrating  the  part  France  took  in 
the  Crusades.     Another  salon,  extending  nearly 


THE  PALACE  OF  VERSAILLES.  245 

half  the  length  of  the  building,  is  filled  with  large 
pictures,  representing  the  great  battles  in  which 
France  has  been  victorious,  from  the  days  of 
King  Clovis  down  to  the  era  of  Napoleon.  Still 
other  rooms  contain  many  hundreds  of  portraits 
of  the  public  men,  not  of  France  alone,  but  of 
the  whole  civilized  world.  Here  are  pictures  of 
Washington,  Franklin,  Adams,  Jackson,  Polk, 
Webster,  and  various  other  American  statesmen ; 
numerous  members  of  the  English  royal  family, 
and  English  statesmen  and  men  of  eminence  for 
a  hundred  years  past,  and,  of  course,  a  very  rich 
collection  of  French  celebrities.  The  number  of 
rooms  seems  almost  interminable.  We  begin  an 
afternoon's  inspection  by  looking  at  each  picture, 
and  end,  when  the  attendants  evince  an  anxiety  to 
close  up  and  go  home,  by  simply  glancing  down 
long  vistas  of  rooms  still  unvisited.  The  whole 
forms  an  exceedingly  interesting  collection.  Be- 
sides the  pictures,  there  are  to  be  seen  at  Yer- 
sailles  the  bed  upon  which  Louis  XIY.  slept  and 
died,  a  suite  of  rooms  occupied  by  the  unfortu- 
nate Marie  Antoinette,  and  many  other  objects  of 
rare  historic  interest. 

The  park  of  Versailles  is  famous  for  its  magnif- 
icent avenues  of  large  forest  trees,  in  some  cases 
more  than  a  mile  in  length,  and  so  trained  as 
most  perfectly  to  shade  the  intervening  roadway. 
Much,  too,  of  the  Versailles  park,  is  left  in  a  state 


246  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

of  perfect  wildness,  but  is  intersected  in  every 
direction  by  pleasant  roads  and  foot-paths,  a 
light  lath  fence  hedging  in  these  ways.  The 
result  is  a  delightful  solitude  for  a  stroll,  and  a 
park  melodious  with  the  songs  of  the  birds  which 
seek  a  home  in  the  dense  foliage. 

Four  miles  north  of  Paris  is  the  village  of  St. 
Denis,  famous  for  a  beautiful  Gothic  abbey 
church  which,  since  the  days  of  King  Dagobert, 
thirteen  hundred  years  ago,  has  been  the  burial 
place  of  the  French  kings.  At  the  revolution  in 
the  last  century,  the  National  Assembly  passed 
an  edict  ordering  all  the  royal  tombs  destroyed, 
and  in  October,  1793,  the  work  was  carried  out. 
The  bodies,  including  that  of  Louis  XI Y.,  which 
was  found  in  good  preservation,  were  reburied  in 
a  common  grave,  the  lead  coffins  were  melted  up 
for  bullets,  and  it  was  only  with  great  difficulty 
that  some  of  the  fine  sculptured  tombs  were 
saved  by  being  deposited  in  a  national  museum  in 
Paris  as  specimens  of  French  art.  The  building 
was  stripped  of  its  roof,  and  its  entire  destruc- 
tion meditated,  but  fortunately  not  determined 
on.  Under  Napoleon  I.  it  was  restored,  and  the 
tombs  replaced,  but  all  of  date  prior  to  1790  are,  of 
course,  only  cenotaphs — empty  sepulchres.  Upon 
the  restoration  of  the  Bourbons,  in  1814,  the  bones 
of  Louis  XYI.  and  Marie  Antoinette  were  removed 
to  St.  Denis,  and  now  rest  with  those  of  later 


-  THE  SEINE.  247 

kings  in  leaden  coffins  in  the  royal  vaults  nnder 
the  choir  of  the  church. 

St.  Denis  is  on  the  river  Seine,  two  hours  by  boat 
below  Paris,  although  only  four  miles  by  wagon 
road.  The  current  of  the  Seine  is  very  rapid. 
]S"avigation  as  far  up  as  Paris  is  inconsiderable, 
and  the  river  at  that  point  is  filled  mainly  with 
floating  baths.  There  must  be  dozens  of  them — 
some  exclusively  for  women.  In  some  the  fee 
for  a  bath  is  as  low  as  three  cents  of  our  money. 
A  crookeder  river  than  the  Seine  it  would  be  hard 
to  And.  It  leaves  Paris  at  its  south-west  corner, 
flows  south  to  Sevres,  six  miles,  bends  around 
to  the  north,  passes  the  city  only  a  short  distance 
from  the  walls,  touches  St.  Denis  four  miles 
north  of  Paris,  and  so  continues  its  way  to  the 
sea,  taking  about  four  miles  to  go  one.  One  of 
the  prettiest  excursions  imaginable  is  a  trip  down 
the  Seine  to  St.  Denis  by  steamer.  The  scenery 
on  every  side  is  most  beautiful.  In  that  short 
distance  the  boat  passes  through  a  lock  of  six  or 
eight  feet,  so  rapid  is  the  fall  of  the  river.  Just 
beyond  Sevres  we  pass  the  old  royal  park  and 
palace  of  St.  Cloud,  the  latter  now  in  ruins,  hav- 
ing been  destroyed  during  the  seige  of  Paris  in 
1870,  partly  by  the  French  guns,  and  partly  by 
the  Prussians  who  occupied  the  town. 

At  Sevres  the  French  government  have  long 
maintained  a  manufactory  for  the  finest  porce- 


248  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

lain,  and  Sevres  china  is  known  by  reputation 
the  world  over.  The  manufactory  is  carried  on 
at  a  considerable  expense  over  and  above  the  rev- 
enue derived  from  it,  as  a  department  of  the  fine 
arts,  which  France  makes  it  her  special  care  to 
foster  and  encourage.  Armed  with  a  ticket  from 
the  "Direction  des  Beaux  Arts"  we  visited  this 
celebrated  factory.  The  porcelain  is  made  of  a 
very  pure  white  clay  known  as  kaolin,  and 
brought  from  Limoges,  in  the  southwest  of 
France.  The  process  of  manufacture  is  probably 
similar  to  that  of  porcelain  made  elsewhere,  but 
the  designs  are  peculiarly  artistic,  and  the  manip- 
ulations probably  finer  than  elsewhere.  We  were 
particularly  interested  in  the  process  of  making 
the  very  delicate  China  tea  cups,  the  substance  of 
which  is  scarcely  thicker  than  a  piece  of  card- 
board. These  cups  are  not  turned  in  a  lathe  nor 
pressed  into  moulds,  but  a  matrix  of  porous  clay 
is  carefully  prepared  of  the  size  and  shape  of  the 
outside  of  the  cup  or  other  vessel,  as  the  case  may 
be,  which  matrix  being  perfectly  dry  is  filled  with 
a  solution  of  the  kaolin  of  about  the  consistency 
of  good  rich  milk.  The  porous  mould  quickly 
absorbs  a  quantity  of  the  water,  and  the  kaolin  is 
deposited  in  a  thin  layer  uniformly  over  the  inte- 
rior of  the  mould.  When  sufficient  thickness  is 
attained,  the  remainder  of  the  solution  is  emptied 
out,  and  the  mould  allowed  to  dry,  when  the  cup, 


THE  SEVRES  PORCELAIN  FACTORY.  249 

fragile  as  a  wafer,  easily  slips  out.  The  decorat- 
ing is  done  after  the  article  is  burned.  The  pat- 
tern, if  it  is  to  be  in  gilt,  is  first  engraved  upon  a 
steel  plate.  From  this  plate  an  impression  is 
taken  on  the  finest  paper  by  means  of  an  ordin- 
ary copper-plate  printer's  press,  but  with,  of 
course,  a  peculiar  kind  of  ink.  From  this  paper 
the  pattern  is  transferred  to  the  porcelain  by 
placing  the  paper,  face  down,  upon  it  and  rubbing 
it  over  for  some  time  with  a  small  roller.  Pow- 
dered gold  bronze  is  then  applied  with  a  camel's 
hair  brush,  and  by  another  burning  the  gilding  is 
firmly  fixed.  Flowers  and  other  ornamentations 
in  several  colors  are  painted  by  hand,  and  then 
burned  in. 

If  the  visitor  hopes  to  bring  away  a  specimen 
of  Sevres  china,  he  will  probably  be  appalled  to 
to  find  that  the  cheapest  article  costs  more  than 
he  cares  to  invest.  The  cheapest  tea  set  made  is 
sold  at  about  two  hundred  dollars,  and  from  that 
sum  the  prices  run  up  indefinitely.  A  pair  of 
ordinary  sized  mantle  vases  were  marked  eight 
hundred  francs  ($160),  but  perhaps  not  one  person 
in  ten  would  recognise  them  as  any  choicer  than 
a  set  that  could  be  bought  for  sixteen  dollars  at 
any  large  china  store.  But  the  gem  of  the  whole 
establishment  is  a  series  of  framed  porcelain  pic- 
tures, copies  of  the  great  masters,  and  more 
exquisitely  beautiful  than  the  originals  ever  could 


250  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

have  been,  painted  in  oils.  Unless  the  reader  has 
seen  some  really  fine  paintings  on  porcelain,  he 
can  have  little  idea  of  the  possibilities  in  this 
branch  of  the  fine  arts.  We  saw  some  very  beau- 
tiful specimens  of  porcelain  painting  at  Munich, 
in  the  New  Pinakothek,  but  the  productions  of 
the  Sevres  manufactory  are  incomparably  supe- 
rior, and  the  adjective  fails  to  suggest  itself  that 
will  do  justice  to  their  exquisite  beauty. 


CHAPTER  XXYI. 

THROUGH  NORMANDY-ROUEN-DIEPPE— TEMPERANCE-POLITICS 
IN  FRANCE-MONEY. 

i, 


% 


HE  journey  from  Paris  to  Dieppe  lies  in 
great  part  along  the  valley  of  the  Seine, 
which  is  a  much  more  beautiful  and  inter- 
esting part  of  France  than  that  between  Strass- 
burg  and  Paris.  We  break  the  journey  at  Rouen, 
a  large  and  important  place,  well  built,  but  inter- 
esting chiefly  for  several  old  churches  and  other 
buildings  which  have  not  been  spoiled  by  modern 
restoration.  We  were  charmed  with  the  simpli- 
city of  this  old  Norman  city.  The  churches  were 
all  open,  and  we  were  dunned  for  no  fees  by 
omnivorous  vergers.  The  shops  were  clean  and 
inviting,  and  the  nicest  pastry  was  obtainable  at 
ridiculously  cheap  prices.  The  charge  for  taking 
care  of  our  baggage  at  the  station  was  one  cent 
per  piece ;  this  including  the  giving  of  a  written 
receipt  for  the  same.  The  people  all  seemed  so 
polite  and  good  natured  that  we  were  quite 
charmed  with  Rouen. 

The  cathedral  of  Rouen  is  a  fine  specimen  of 
Gothic  architecture,  very  richly  ornamented.  It 
contains  the  tomb  of  Richard  I.  of  England,  who, 

251 


252  ri\"E  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

thougli  of  the  fourth  generation  from  William 
the  Conqueror,  still  loved  Normandy  better  than 
England,  and  had  his  bones  laid  there. 

Dieppe,  though  less  famous,  is  well  worthy  a 
few  hours'  inspection.  It  has  two  nice  old  Gothic 
churches  incomparably  more  interesting  than 
many  of  the  grand  churches  of  Italy.  Dieppe, 
strange  as  it  may  seem  in  a  fishing  town  so  far 
away  from  the  center  of  art,  is  also  famous  for  its 
ivory  carvings.  Here  we  take  a  steamer  for  New- 
haven,  on  the  English  coast.  The  sea,  though 
broader  here  than  at  Dover,  is  much  smoother, 
and  the  steamers  are  larger  and  better  fitted  up. 

During  our  stay  in  France,  and  indeed  on  the 
entire  continent,  it  was  a  matter  of  remark  that- 
we  did  not  encounter  a  single  case  of  drunken- 
ness. Our  observation  in  this  respect  would 
seem  to  bear  out  the  claims  of  those  who  argue 
that  the  general  use  of  light  wines  is  rather  pro- 
motive of  temperance  than  otherwise,  for  wine  is 
cheap  and  the  quantity  consumed  enormous.  At 
a  table  d'hote  dinner  a  whole  or  half  bottle  is 
seen  at  almost  every  plate,  and  about  that  quan- 
tity is  actually  drunk  by  each  person.  The  usual 
table  wine  is  a  harmless  beverage,  and  costs  from 
forty  to  sixty  cents  per  quart  bottle. 

In  France,  notwithstanding  the  youthfulness  of 
the  republic,  there  is  already  great  complaint  of 
the  low  state  of  political  morals.     As  in  our  own 


.  THE  MONEY  OF  FRANCE.  253 

country,  the  offices  are  regarded  as  prizes,  to  be 
sought  at  the  sacrifice  of  all  sentiments  of  patriot- 
ism and  public  spirit,  and  a  mean  selfishness  is 
said  everywhere  to  pervade  the  public  service. 
The  better  class  of  people  are  disgusted,  and  in 
this  lies  the  danger  of  the  failure  of  the  republic, 
as  the  Frenchman's  only  notion  of  reform  is  by 
revolution. 

The  money  of  account  of  France,  like  that  of 
Belgium,  Italy  and  Switzerland,  is  the  franc,  of  a 
value  of  a  trifle  under  twenty  cents  of  our  own 
money.  The  franc  is  supxDOsed  to  be  divided  into 
one  hundred  centimes,  but  very  few  of  that  coin 
are  in  circulation,  or  even  of  the  two  centime 
piece.  Practically  the  sou,  or  five  centime  piece, 
is  the  coin  of  minimum  value.  The  other, coins 
are  the  ten  centime  in  coi^per,  equal  to  two  cents 
of  our  money,  the  half  franc,  franc,  two  franc  and 
five  franc  in  silver,  and  five  franc,  ten  franc  and 
twenty  franc  piece  in  gold.  For  larger  sums 
Bank  of  France  notes  are  used,  the  smallest 
denomination  being  one  hundred  francs. 

One  can  travel  very  conveniently  without  any 
knowledge  of  the  European  languages,  but  in 
that  case  his  sources  of  infomiation  will  be  con- 
fined mainly  to  his  own  powers  of  observation. 
His  tour  will  hence  be  only  half  as  instructive  as 
if  he  could  ask  questions. 


CHAPTER  XXyil. 

BACK  IN  ENGLAND  — BRIGHTON  — LONDON  CONTRASTED  WITH 
PARIS— ENGLISH  OLD-FOGYISM-HOW  LONDON  IS  GOVERNED 
—TOPOGRAPHY  OF  THE  BRITISH  METROPOLIS. 

E  land  at  Newhaven  and  after  our  two 
months  ramble  among  foreigners  thor- 
oughly enjoy  the  novelty  of  again  being 
in  a  land  where  the  language  is  familiar  to  us,  and 
where  we  can  understand  everything  that  is  said 
by  those  around  us.  .  We  pass  off  the  steamer 
without  inspection  of  our  baggage,  upon  our  sim- 
ple assurance  that  neither  tea,  tobacco  nor  spirits 
is  contained  therein.  How  much  better  this  than 
the  insulting  and  humiliating  tumbling  over  of 
one's  clean  shirts  and  pocket-handkerchiefs  by  a 
coarse  and  insolent  official,  as  one  experiences  in 
countries  like  ours,  where  a  tariff  is  laid  on  a 
hundred  different  articles  easy  of  being  smuggled. 
Brighton,  a  few  miles  down  the  coast  from 
Newhaven  and  fifty-two  miles  from  London,  is  a 
city  about  the  size  of  Rochester,  Detroit  or  Mil- 
waukee, and  is  supported  almost  entirely  by  its 
position  as  the  principal  seaside  watering  place 
for  the  British  metropolis.  It  extends  for  three 
miles  along  the  beach,  has  hundreds  of  hotels, 

854 


LONDON  SMOKE.  255 

and  its  grand  parade  on  a  pleasant  evening  is  a 
rare  scene  of  outdoor  enjoyment.  Aside  from  its 
fashion  and  gaiety  there  is  nothing  at  Brighton 
of  especial  interest  to  the  traveler. 

A  ride  of  a  little  more  than  an  hour  brings  ns 
again  to  the  British  metropolis.  Compared  with 
the  continental  cities,  London  presents  a  gloomy 
appearance  and  by  comparison  its  streets  are 
abominably  dirty,  though  contrasted  with  those 
of  any  American  city  they  would  be  regarded  as 
very  creditable  to  the  municipality:  The  atmos- 
phere is  filled  with  soot,  and  it  is  impossible  to 
keep  one' s  linen  clean  for  more  than  a  few  hours. 
Old  buildings,  as  St.  Paul's  for  instance,  are  to  a 
great  extent  incrusted  with  a  rough  black  deposit 
of  soot,  which  has  become  as  hard  as  the  stone 
itself,  and  in  protected  places  is  often  an  inch  or 
two  thick. 

When  an  American  arrives  in  London  the  first 
thing  he  .does  is  to  register  at  the  American 
Exchange,  and  the  next  thing  is  to  subscribe  for 
the  privileges  of  the  Exchange  for  the  time  he 
will  remain  in  Europe.  It  costs  but  the  trifle  of  a 
dollar  and  a  quarter  per  month,  and  for  this  small 
sum  he  has  the  free  use  of  the  rooms,  which  are 
situated  at  Charing  Cross,  the  very  heart  of  Lon- 
don, and  the  common  focus  from  which  every 
part  can  be  reached  by  rail  or  omnibus.  Here 
he  can  receive  his  mail,  read  all  the  American 


256  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

papers,  see  bulletins  of  tlie  latest  American  news, 
meet  all  the  fresh  arrivals  from  his  own  country, 
write  his  letters,  and  for  a  very  moderate  fee  can 
store  any  superfluous  baggage  that  he  may  not 
want  to  carry  with  him.  When  he  goes  on  the 
continent  his  letters  will  be  forwarded  to  him  to 
whatever  address  he  may  indicate  from  day  to 
day,  and  throughout  his  travels  he  will  receive 
his  mails  with  a  promptness  that  would  be  imx)os- 
sible  were  letters  mailed  to  him  direct  from  Amer- 
ica. These  are  only  a  few  of  the  conveniences 
offered  to  American  travelers  by  the  Exchange, 
and  no  one  can  for  a  moment  afford  to  neglect 
availing  himself  of  them.  It  may  be  added  that 
Mr.  Henry  F.  Gillig,  the  managing  proprietor,  is 
an  affable  gentleman,  and  is  constantly  on  the 
alert  to  assist  in  all  ways  his  numerous  patrons. 
One  coming  from  the  continent  is  struck  wdth 
the  pre-eminence  of  London  over  all  other  Euro- 
pean cities  as  a  general  mart  for  the  products  of 
the  whole  world.  In  paintings,  the  specialty  of 
Italy,  Rome  and  Florence  sink  out  of  sight  in 
comparison  with  London  in  the  number  of  shops 
devoted  to  their  sale,  the  magnitude  of  the 
stocks  they  carry,  and  the  comparative  cheapness 
at  which  they  can  be  purchased.  In  engravings, 
one  of  the  specialties  of  Paris,  London  offers 
twenty  times  the  inducements  to  buyers.  In 
fact  any  article  can  be  purchased  quite  as  advan- 


OVER-POPULA,TION  OF  ENGLAND.  257 

tageously  here  as  at  the  home  of  its  production, 
be  it  anywhere  in  the  wide  world.  So  much 
for  free  trade  and  a  well  developed  commerce. 

The  manufacturers  of  England  complain  bitter- 
ly of  our  American  protective  tariff,  which  is 
ruining  many  branches  of  their  trade ;  but  the 
disinterested,  thinking  men  say  nothing,  for  they 
see  that  what  England  loses  in  manufactures  by 
our  American  policy  she  more  than  makes  up  in 
the  commerce  that  we  by  the  same  policy  fool- 
ishly throw  into  her  hands,  so  that  on  the  whole 
she  loses  nothing  by  it,  if  indeed  she  be  not  the 
gainer.  Great  Britain  never  was  richer,  and  on 
the  whole  more  prosperous  than  at  the  present 
moment.  And  this  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
the  country  is  vastly  over-populated  and  that  the 
relation  between  wages  and  the  cost  of  living 
is  steadily  widening.  Clerks'  and  bookkeepers' 
salaries  in  London  range  from  live  dollars  to  fif- 
teen dollars  a  week,  the  latter  being  considered 
rather  a  high  figure,  and  on  this  income  scores  of 
thousands  are  supporting  in  attempted  respecta- 
bility the  large  families  that  seem  to  be  the  inva- 
riable rule  with  the  wage  class  in  that  country. 

One  is  struck  on  entering  any  place  of  business 
with  the  great  number  of  clerks,  and  immense 
amount  of  bookkeeping,  that  seems  inseparable 
from  business  operations  in  England.  Old-fash- 
ioned and  cumbrous  ways  of  doing  things  prevail, 
ir 


258  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

much  in  contrast  with,  our  American  common-sense 
habits  of  simplifying  everything  to  the  utmost. 

Our  hotel  windows  overlooked  Covent  Garden 
market,  the  great  central  wholesale  vegetable 
emporium  of  London.  It  was  amusing  to  see  the 
great  number  of  people  constantly  employed 
there,  and  the  circumlocutory  way  in  which 
everything  was  done.  Loads  of  lettuce  would 
arrive  as  large  as  loads  of  hay  at  home,  and  in 
unloading  every  head  would  be  handled  sepa- 
rately. They  would  be  thrown  into  baskets  to  be 
carried  to  other  parts  of  the  market,  and  men 
would  stand  holding  their  baskets  on  their  heads 
all  the  time  they  were  being  filled.  Articles 
would  be  piled  up  in  one  place,  and  directly  after 
removed  to  another,  and  everything  done  as 
slowly  and  deliberately  as  if  the  sole  object  were 
to  kill  as  much  time  as  possible.  A  smart  Amer- 
ican, I  am  sure,  would  do  all  the  work  with  a 
third  the  number  of  hands.  And  it  was  laugh- 
able to  see  how  busy  they  all  seemed  to  think 
themselves  over  what,  to  a  Yankee,  looked  so 
much  like  child's  play.  But  perhaps  it  is  for  the 
best,  for  if  they  did  things  after  our  fashion,  half 
the  people  of  England  would  find  nothing  to  do. 
As  another  illustration,  I  noticed  a  large  barge 
load  of  grain  being  unloaded  into  a  great  flouring 
mill  on  the  banks  of  the  Thames,  and  each  sack 
was  drawn  up  separately  by  a  rope  into  the  fifth 


IMMENSITY  OF  LONDON".  259 

or  sixth  story — a  long  and  tedious  process  to 
accomplisli  what  an  American  miller  would  have 
appliances  for  doing  in  an  hour  or  two. 

As'we  begin  to  look  about  us,  we  are  struck 
with  the  immensity  of  London,  the  world's 
metropolis.  What  is  called  "greater  London" 
contains  fully  five  million  souls,  or  about  eight 
times  the  population  of  Chicago.  During  1880 
no  fewer  than  twenty-five  thousand  new  houses 
were  built,  and  seventy  miles  of  new  streets  crea- 
ted. The  ordinary  police  force  numbers  eleven 
thousand  men,  or  a  force  equal  to  nearly  half  the 
entire  standing  army  of  the  United  States.  But 
these  immense  figures  give  no  appreciable  idea  of 
the  enormous  aggregation  of  human  life  that  calls 
its  home  London.  A  better  idea  may  be  gained 
by  taking  a  train  at  one  of  the  central  railway 
stations  (for  there  are  about  a  dozen  of  them)  and 
riding  out  eight  or  ten  miles.  Not  until  that  dis- 
tance is  reached  can  we  at  all  feel  that  we  have 
even  reached  the  suburbs.  From  the  railroads, 
generally  elevated  on  massive  brick  viaducts  high 
above  the  streets,  we  look  out  upon  a  wilderness 
of  roofs  and  chimney  tops  as  far  as  the  eye  can 
reach.  People  living  in  one  section  of  London 
are  as  much  strangers  to  other  sections  as  though 
hundreds  of  miles  intervened.  Even  cabmen, 
when  required  to  drive  any  distance  from  their 
own  stands,  not  infrequently  are  forced  to  stop 


SCO  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

and  inquire  of  policemen  or  others,  "Do  you 
know  any  such-and-sucli  street  in  this  vicinity  ?" 
and  this,  too,  notwithstanding  that  commission- 
ers have  been  for  years  engaged  in  the  simplify- 
ing and  harmonizing  of  street  nomenclature.  It 
is  a  wonderful  city  in  its  size  and  populousness. 
More  properly  speaking,  it  is  a  collection  of  cities 
which  have  each  grown  so  extensive  as  to  amal- 
gamate the  one  with  another,  until  all  traces  of 
intervening  country  have  been  lost.  It,  the  aggre- 
gation, is  known  as  London,  but  strictly  the  City 
of  London  embraces  only  the  comparatively  small 
district  extending  from  Temple  Bar  in  the  west 
to  Aldgate  in  the  east — perhaps  a  twenty  min- 
utes' walk — and  lies  wholly  north  of  the  Thames. 
Over  this  portion  alone,  embracing  a  population 
of  less  than  two  hundred  thousand,  the  Lord 
Mayor  and  aldermen  exercise  jurisdiction.  The 
remainder  has  a  complex  government  divided 
between  the  vestries  of  the  several  parishes  and 
various  metropolitan  boards  appointed  immedi- 
ately  by  the  national  government.  Practically, 
therefore,  the  government  of  London  outside  of 
the  city  proper,  devolves  on  the  nation  at  large. 
While  there  can  be  no  question  of  the  desirable- 
ness and  efficiency  of  self-government  in  the  case 
of  nations,  it  may  be  questioned  if  the  system  be 
equally  adapted  for  large  cities,  and  if  the  control 
of  these  abnormal  aggregrations  of  population — 


GOVERNMENT  OF  LONDON.  261 

wens  on  the  body  politic,  I  think  some  famous 
writer  called  them — should  not  largely  devolve 
on  the  state  or  nation. 

It  is  certain,  at  least,  that  this  vast  aggregation 
of  people  embraced  in  the  metropolitan  district 
or  greater  London  is  admirably  governed,  ^o 
complaints  are  heard  of  extravagance  in  the  use 
of  the  public  funds,  .of  oppressive  taxation,  of 
dishonest  rings  or  swindling  schemes  of  jobbery, 
and  there  are  certainly  no  petty  contests  over  the 
allotment  of  trivial  offices  periodically  recurring, 
nor  disgusting  personal  bickerings  among  the 
highest  officials.  With  the  men  who  share  in  the 
government  of  London  it  is  a  life  business  and  a 
road  to  the  highest  honor,  and  the  government  is 
hence  conducted  as  a  great  business  should  be 
and  not  as  a  political  bagatelle.  I  am  hardly 
prepared  to  recommend  this  undemocratic  system 
for  adoption  in  America,  but  I  may  be  permitted 
to  record  the  fact  for  what  it  is  worth  that  there 
is  far  less  scandal  in  the  conduct  of  the  govern- 
ment of  London  than  in  that  of  any  one  of  our 
western  cities  of  less  than  one-twentieth  its  popu- 
lation. So  satisfactory  is  it  in  fact  that  the  sub- 
ject is  more  or  less  agitated  of  procuring  the 
repeal  of  the  charter  of  the  City  of  London  pro- 
per and  bringing  it  also  under  the  control  of  the 
Metropolitan  Board  of  Works,  for  the  manage- 
ment of  the  aifairs  of  the  old  central  municipality 


262  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

is  less  satisfactory.  But  the  corporation  is  so 
rich  and  enjoys  so  many  special  privileges  that  it 
will  be  difficult  to  compel  it  to  relinquish  its  fran- 
chises, and  it  certainly  never  will  give  them'  up 
voluntarily.  Practically  the  "City  of  London" 
is  governed  by  a  lot  of  mediaeval  guilds  or  trades 
unions,  all  now  close  corporations  and  immensely 
wealthy.  Every  alderman  must  be  a  member  of 
one  of  these  guilds,  and  the  Lord  Mayor  is  chosen 
by  the  guilds  from  among  the  members  of  the 
Board  of  Aldermen.  Of  the  revenues  and  expend- 
itures of  the  various  guilds  and  of  the  city  itself 
the  public  knows  very  little,  but  as  both  guilds 
and  city  own  valuable  landed  estates  and  enjoy 
various  lucrative  monopolies,  the  amounts  they 
handle  must  be  very  great.  It  is  certain  that 
very  large  sums  are  spent  annually  in  feasting 
and  display  and  in  the  entertainment  of  distin- 
guished visitors. 

Seen  from  a  distance  London  is  noticeable  for 
the  great  number  of  church  towers  and  spires  it 
presents.  In  the  midst  of  all  rises  conspicuously 
the  great  dome  of  St.  Paul's.  On  the  river 
Thames,  which  flows  through  London  from  west  to 
east,  at  the  eastern  extremity  of  the  original  city, 
stands  the  Tower  of  London,  an  ancient  fortress 
with  a  great  square  tower  surmounted  by  a  turret 
at  each  corner,  and  which  forms  a  conspicuous 
landmark.      Midway  between  the  Tower  and  St. 


GENERAL  PLAN  OF  LONDON.  263 

Paul's  stand  in  a  group  the  Bank  of  England, 
the  Eoyal  Exchange  and  the  Mansion  House,  the 
latter  the  ofhcial  residence  of  the  Lord  Mayor. 
This  locality,  popularly  known  as  ''the  Bank,"  is 
regarded  as  the  business  center  of  London,  and  the 
lines  of  omnibuses  that  make  it  a  starting  point 
are  almost  innumerable.  The  main  thorough- 
fare connecting  the  Bank  with  St.  Paul's  is  the 
historic  Cheapside,  perhaps  the  busiest  street  to 
be  found  anywhere.  A  little  north  of  Cheapside, 
and  at  the  head  of  a  short  street  opening  into  it, 
stands  GuildhaU,  the  city  hall  of  London,  the 
great  banqueting  hall  of  which  is  a  fine  old 
Gfothic  edifice  of  about  the  fourteenth  century. 
At  St.  Paul's  the  great  artery  of  travel  divides 
into  two,  the  most  southerly,  or  that  lying  near- 
est the  river  being  known  in  successive  sections 
as  Ludgate  Hill,  Fleet  Street  and  the  Strand. 
The  dividing  line  between  Fleet  street  and  the 
Strand  was  formerly  marked  by  Temple  Bar,  a 
stone  gateway,  originally  one  of  the  gates  of  the 
city,  but  which  was  pulled  down  a  year  or  two 
ago  as  a  useless  incumbrance.  Between  the  site 
of  Temple  Bar  and  the  river  lie  the  extensive 
range  of  buildings  occupied  exclusively  by  law- 
yers, known  as  the  Temple,  and  just  across  the 
street  is  an  immense  structure  just  being  com- 
pleted for  the  Law  Courts,  which  will  be  here 
concentrated. 


264  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD.  , 

The  Strand  terminates  westwardly  in  Charing 
Cross,  a  business  centre  second  only  in  import- 
ance to  the  Bank.  Here  is  located  the  American 
Exchange,  before  referred  to,  important  railway 
stations,  and  several  large  hotels.  A  few  rods 
still  further  west  is  Trafalgar  Square,  with  the 
Nelson  column  in  its  midst,  the  north  side  of  the 
square  being  bounded  by  the  National  gallery, 
the  great  picture  gallery  of  the  British  nation. 
From  this  point  a  street  known  as  Whitehall 
leads  southw^esterly  to  Westminister  Abbey  and 
the  Houses  of  Parliament  on  the  banks  of  the 
Thames,  and  another  street  continuing  more  west- 
erly, and  known  as  Pall  Mall,  contains  most  of  the 
famous  clubs  of  London.  But  the  main  current  of 
travel  does  not  follow  Whitehall  or  Pall  Mall, 
but  continues  westward  on  Piccadilly,  a  street  a 
few  blocks  farther  north.  Then  we  come  to  the 
parks — Hyde  park.  Green  park  and  St.  James' s, 
about  which  cluster  the  fashion  and  aristocracy 
of  London.  At  the  w^estern  extremity  of  St. 
James's  park  stands  Buckingham  palace,  the 
Queen's  London  residence,  and  around  the  park 
are  the  residences  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  and  the 
offices  of  the  war,  navy  and  foreign  departments 
of  the  British  government. 

What  some  of  the  fashionable  thoroughfares  of 
our  northern-  cities  are  in  times  of  good  sleighing, 
such,  for  a  crowd  of  pleasure  drivers,  is  Hyde 


THE  WEST  END.  265 

Park  every  afternoon  in  the  year.  All  the  aris- 
tocracy turn  out  for  an  hour  or  two  after  four 
o'clock,  and  the  drives  are  one  mass  of  horses 
and  carriages,  numbering  many  hundreds,  if  not 
thousands.  The  more  stylish  have  their  coach- 
man with  curled  wig  and  footmen  with  powdered 
hair,  all  in  livery  to  match  the  upholstering  of 
the  carriage.  About  five  o'clock  the  word  is 
given  by  the  police,  and  a  way  is  opened  through 
the  crowd  of  vehicles,  for  the  carriage  of  the 
Princess  of  Wales,  who,  usually  accompanied 
by  her  little  family,'  makes  a  few  turns  around 
the  park.  The  Princess  is  beautiful  and  popular, 
and  her  daily  ride  is  a  continuous  ovation. 

The  other  thoroughfare  westward  from  St. 
Paul's  first  passes  the  General  Postoffice,  then 
Christ's  Hospital,  or  the  Bluecoat  school, 'a  pub- 
lic school  founded  some  three  hundred  years 
ago,  and  the  pupils  of  which  still  dress  in  the 
peculiar  costume  of  the  period  of  its  establish- 
lishment — long  blue  gowns  and  yellow  stockings, 
with  no  hats,  whence  the  popular  name  of  the 
school — then  Newgate  prison,  beyond  which  the 
street  is  known  as  Holborn,  and  still  further 
westward  as  Oxford  street,  one  of  the  principal 
retail  business  streets  of  London.  At  the  extrem- 
ity of  Oxford  street  formerly  existed  the  locality 
known  as  Tyburn,  where  so  many  hundreds  of 
people  used  to  be  hanged  for  offenses  that  in  the 


266  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

present  day  are  condoned  by  a  few  months' 
imprisonment.  A  few  blocks  north  of  Newgate 
is  the  great  central  meat  market  of  London, 
Smithfield,  the  place  where  protestant  heretics 
were  roasted  at  the  stake  in  Queen  Mary's  reign, 
three  hundred  and  thirty  years  ago. 

Bunning  north  and  south,  and  intersecting 
Oxford  street  and  Piccadilly,  is  fashionable 
Regent  street,  where  the  best  of  everything  can  be 
purchased  at  about  double  Oxford  street  prices. 

Above  Westminster,  on  the  north  bank  of  the 
Thames,  is  Chelsea,  the  late  home  of  Thomas  Car- 
lyle  and  many  other  literary  celebrities.  Oppo- 
site Westminster  is  Lambeth  palace,  the  residence 
of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury ;  and  still  far- 
ther down,  on  the  south  side  of  the  river,  the 
populous  section  of  London  known  as  South wark. 

The  Thames  is  crossed  by  a  number  of  fine 
stone  and  iron  bridges,  that  lowest  down  the  river, 
London  Bridge,  being  located  about  midway 
between  the  Tower  and  St.  Paul's.  Below  this 
are  the  several  extensive  dock  yards  and  all  the 
shipping  trade,  for  only  small  barges  and  omnibus 
steamers  pass  above  London  Bridge. 


CHAPTER  XXYIII. 

THE  TOWER  OF  LONDON-THE  CITY  LIBRARY-ST.  PAUL'S-THE 
THAMES  EMBANKMENT— A  RELIC  OF  FRANKLIN— WHITEHALL 
—THE  HOUSES  OF  PARLIAMENT— WESTMINSTER  ABBEY. 

^ Londoners  are  apt  to  langli  when  one 
W^  talks  of  visiting  tlie  Tower  of  London, 
O  affecting  to  regard  tlie  old  castle  as  only 
a  sort  of  show  place  for  children.  But  they  do 
it  injustice.  The  castle  itself,  as  an  old  Norman, 
structure  of  the  time  of  William  the  Conqueror 
— eight  centuries  old — and  as  the  scene  of  the 
imprisonment  and  tragic  death  of  Anne  Boleyn, 
Lady  Jane  Grey  and  many  other  notable  charac- 
ters in  history,  is  certainly  an  object  of  interest ; 
but  besides  this,  it  contains  one  of  the  most  com- 
plete museums  of  ancient  arms  and  armor  that 
can  perhaps  be  found  anywhere,  and  which  well 
repays  a  visit.  Here  also  may  be  seen  the  royal 
crown  and  other  crown  jewels  of  England,  the 
whole  valued  at  a  fabulous  amount.  A  great 
improvement  has  been  introduced  since  my  last 
visit,  in  permitting  visitors  to  go  about  unat- 
tended by  guides,  and  to  stay  as  long  as  they 
choose.  Formerly  they  were  conducted  through 
in  parties,  and  given  no  time  for  the  careful 
examination  of  anything. 


268  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

In  connection  with  Guildhall,  the  municipal 
headquarters  of  the  city  of  London,  there  is  a 
large  free  library  and  a  very  interesting  museum, 
the  latter  comprising  solely  London  antiquities. 
Here  are  sculptures,  mosaics,  ornaments,  tools, 
pottery,  household  utensils,  and  even  shoes,  of 
the  Roman  period,  all  found  at  different  times  in 
excavations  made  in  the  city.  Of  their  Roman 
origin  there  can  be  no  doubt,  but  it  is  remarkable 
how  many  of  the  articles,  as  knives,  spoons,  nails, 
tweezers,  and  other  manufactures  of  metal,  resem- 
ble those  of  the  present  day.  In  a  former  chapter 
was  mentioned  a  breech-loading  gun,  seen  in  a 
museum  at  Bale,  and  quite  like  a  modern  gun  in 
its  construction,  yet  made  two  hundred  and  fifty 
years  ago.  In  the  museum  connected  with  the 
London  Free  Library  is  a  copy  of  the  London 
Farthing  Post,  of  January  15,  1739,  and  yet  it  is 
popularly  supposed  that_the  cheap  press  is  a  pro- 
duct wholly  of  the  present  generation.  But, 
more  wonderful  yet,  there  are  seen  in  the  same 
museum  safety  pins  precisely  such  as  are  now 
in  general  use  by  ladies  and  infants,  but  made 
and  used  by  the  Romans  near  two  thousand 
years  ago.  Truly,  there  is  nothing  new  under 
the  sun. 

After  seeing  St.  Peter's  at  Rome,  St.  Paul's, 
which  is  in  great  measure  modeled  after  it,  loses 
greatly  in  interest.     Exteriorly  I  think  it  the 


ST.  PAUL'S  CATHEDRAL.  269 

superior  of  St.  Peter's,  but  within  it  is  not  nearly 
so  imposing.  It  is,  nevertheless,  claimed  to  be 
the  largest  Protestant  church  in  the  world.  In 
the  churchyard  may  be  seen  some  remains  of  old 
St.  Paul' s,  a  large  Norman  or  Gothic  church  built 
under  William  the  Conqueror,  and  destroyed  in 
the  great  fire  of  London  in  1666.  Six  years  later 
Sir  Christopher  Wren  was  employed  to  rebuild 
the  structure,  which  he  completed  in  1710,  and  it 
is  no  doubt  his  most  meritorious  achievement. 

While  Westminster  Abbey  contains  principally 
the  monuments  of  England's  literati  and  states- 
men, St.  Paul's  is  more  particularly  devoted  to 
the  tombs  of  her  artists  and  warriors.  In  the 
crypt  lie  the  remains  of  kelson,  Wellington,  and 
Sir  John  Moore,  with  a  great  number  of  less  dis- 
tinguished naval  and  military  officers,  together 
vdth  those  of  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  the  archi- 
tect, Joshua  Reynolds,  J.  M.  W.  Turner,  Benja- 
min West,  Edwin  Landseer,  and  other  noted 
painters,  besides  those  of  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson, 
.  Bishox3  Heber,  the  author  of 

"From  Greenland's  Icy  Mountains," 

Dean  Milman,  the  historian,  Howard,  the  philan- 
thropist, etc.  The  [monuments,  chiefly  of  white 
marble,  are  ruined  by  the  dust  and  smoke  that 
defiles  them,  and  are  anything  but  objects  of 
beauty.  For  sixpence  we  descend  to  the  crypt, 
where  is  to  be  seen  Wellington' s  funeral  car,  con- 


270  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

structed  wholly  from  captured  brass  cannon,  and 
weighing  several  tons.  Ascending  to  the  base  of 
the  dome,  we  find  ourselves  in  what  is  known  as 
the  whispering  gallery,  so  called  because,  when 
all  is  quiet  outside,  the  faintest  whisper  uttered 
on  one  side  of  the  immense  circular  structure  is 
distinctly  heard  at  the  other,  one  hundred  and 
forty  feet  away.  We  still  ascend  higher  to  the 
summit  of  the  dome,  where  a  gallery,  known  as 
the  golden  gallery,  two  hundred  and  ninety  feet 
from  the  ground,  commands  the  finest  birds-eye 
view  of  London  obtainable.  St.  Paul's  is  too  well 
known  to  the  average  reader  from  the  prints  of  it, 
which  are  so  common,  to  require  any  more 
minute  description  here. 

Among  the  finest  of  the  public  improvements 
effected  by  the  Metropolitan  Board  of  Works  is 
the  well-known  Thames  Embankment.  The  river 
Thames  rises  and  falls  with  the  tides  some  twelve 
or  fifteen  feet.  At  low  water  there  were  formerly 
on  each  side  of  the  river  great  beds  of  mud,  hun- 
dreds of  feet  in  width,  but  which  were  entirely 
covered  at  high  water.  Now,  heavy  stone  walls 
have  been  built  at  the  line  of  the  low  water 
channel,  and  the  space  at  the  back  has  been  filled 
up  and  improved  as  a  park.  The  houses  that  form- 
erly bordered  the  river  now  stand  one  or  two  hun- 
dred yards  inland,  and  look  down  upon  brilliant 
flower  beds,  green  shrubbery,  neat  gravel  walks, 


A  RELIC  OF  FRANKLIN.  271 

and  statues  of  eminent  personages.  The  Egyp- 
tian obelisk,  brought  to  England  a  few  years  ago 
at  so  much  cost,  is  also  one  of  the  adornments  of 
the  Thames  Embankment. 

Starting  out  for  a  walk  on  the  Embankment 
one  evening,  I  turned  down  Craven  street  from 
the  Strand,  when  on  one  of  the  houses,  No.  7, 
a  circular  tablet  caught  my  eye.  It  bore  this 
inscription : 

HERE  LIVED 

BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN, 

PRINTER. 

Born  1706. 
Died  1790. 

Parton,  in  his  life  of  Franklin,  mentions  his 
residing  at  No.  7  Craven  street  in  1757,  when  on 
a  mission  from  the  colony  of  Pennsylvania  to  the 
Penn  family  and  the  British  government  of  that 
day.  ''His  landlady,"  says  Parton,  "was  Mrs. 
Margaret  Stevenson,  one  of  the  most  amiable  of 
women,  with  whom  and  her  daughter  he  soon 
contracted  a  friendship  which  was  warmly  cher- 
ished on  both  sides  as  long  as  he  lived.  At 
Mrs.  Stevenson's  house  he  enjoyed,  during  his 
long  exile,  all  of  a  home  which  can  be  enjoyed 
away  from  home."  He  lived  in  considerable  style 
in  London,  and  finding  the  hackney  coaches 
dilapidated  and  inconvenient  he  set  up  a  modest 
chariot  of  his  own.     His  son  William,  who  was 


272  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

with  him,  entered  the  Middle  Temple  as  a  student 
of  law.  One  can  hardly  turn  anywhere  in  Lon- 
don without  stumbling  upon  some  such  historic 
locality. 

Relics  of  the  olden  times  are  very  numerous. 
On  some  of  the  fashionable  streets  in  the  "West 
End"  almost  every  house  still  retains  the  posts 
or  brackets  and  frames  which  once  held  the  oil 
lamps  with  which  the  doorways  were  lighted 
before  the  discovery  of  gas.  More  curious  still 
are  the  great  iron  extinguishers  which  project 
from  the  porticoes  or  iron  fences  in  front  of  the 
honses,  and  which  were  used  for  the  putting  out 
of  the  torches  of  the  link  boys  who  walked  before 
and  lighted  the  way  for  the  sedan  chairs,  in  which 
our  ancestors  went  out  to  balls  and  parties  before 
the  paving  of  the  streets  made  the  use  of  carriages 
practicable.  No  one  seems  to  think  of  destroy- 
ing these  things  because  they  cease  to  be  useful. 
Another  old-time  relic  is  an  occasional  plank  ele- 
vated about  four  feet  from  the  sidewalk  on  iron 
posts  on  the  line  of  the  curbstone,  its  humane 
object  being  the  affording  of  a  resting  place  for 
burdens  carried  by  men  and  boys,  before  the  days 
of  trucks  and  express  wagons. 

I  alluded  above  to  Whitehall,  a  thoroughfare 
connecting  Charing  Cross  with  Westminster. 
This  is  a  notable  street.  On  the  left  we  first  pass 
Scotland  Yard,  the  headquarters  of  the  London 


WHITEHALL.  273 

detective  police.  A  little  further  on  is  the  Ban- 
queting House,  the  only  remaining  portion  of 
Whitehall  palace,  the  principal  London  resi- 
dence of  the  Stuarts.  From  one  of  the  windows 
of  this  Banqueting  House  Charles  I.  was  led  out 
to  execution  two  hundred  and  thirty-two  years 
ago.  The  building  is  now  used  as  one  of  the 
royal  chapels.  Its  interior  is  plain  and  old-fash- 
ioned, with  high  pews,  and  one  especially  large 
one  surmounted  by  a  canopy  and  gilded  crown 
for  the  use  of  the  royal  family.  The  audience  on 
the  occasion  of  our  visit  was  thin  and  the  services 
not  particularly  imjposing. 

Nearly  opposite  is  the  Admiralty,  or  navy 
department,  an  old-fashioned  building  with  a 
court  yard.  Just  beyond  are  the  Horse  Guards 
or  military  headquarters,  in  front  of  which  two 
cavalry  soldiers  in  full  dress,  with  steel  breast- 
plates and  helmets,  constantly  stand  guard,  both 
men  and  horses  so  motionless  as  almost  to  lead 
one  to  believe  they  are  equestrian  statues.  Still 
further  on  a  short  street  branches  to  the  right, 
separating  the  treasury  department  from  the 
immense  and  imposing  pile  of  buildings  erected 
a  few  years  ago  for  the  foreign  and  home  depart- 
ments. This  is  the  famous  Downing  street,  which 
we  see  so  often  referred  to  in  English  despatches 
in  connection  with  diplomatic  afPairs      Another 

block  and  the  Houses  of  Parliament,  or,  more 
18  -  ' 


274  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

correctly  speaking,  the  Palace  of  Westminster,  is 
reached.  One  wonders  to  what  purpose  such 
extensive  premises  can  be  put,  especially  in  view 
of  the  very  small  and  inadequate  quarters  that 
are  allotted  to  the  two  legislative  bodies.  Our 
Congress  would  not  put  up  with  such  accommo- 
dations for  a  single  session.  Most  of  our  western 
state  legislatures  are  incomparably  better  housed. 
The  chambers  are  small,  gloomy  and  inconve- 
nient, notwithstanding  that  a  sum  equal  to  $15,- 
000,000  was  spent  upon  them.  There  are  scarcely 
seats  sufficient  for  half  the  members,  and  none 
are  provided  with  desks  of  any  sort.  The  gal- 
leries, too,  are  very  small,  and  only  a  very  limited 
number  of  visitors  can  be  accommodated  to  listen 
to  even  the  most  important  debates.  IN'othing 
could  be  more  absurdly  inconvenient  and  una- 
dapted  to  its  purpose. 

Viewed  from  the  exterior  the  building  is  very 
large,  imposing  and  rich  in  its  ornamentations. 
In  fact  it  is  so  large  that  it  has  entirely  dwarfed 
and  spoiled  the  effect  of  Westminster  Abbey, 
which  it  almost  adjoins.  Although  it  has  not 
yet  been  completed  for  forty  years,  the  finely 
carved  stone  work  is  showing  seriously  the  effect 
of  decay,  and  already  in  places  the  work  of  restor- 
ation has  begun. 

On  each  Saturday  the  public  are  admitted  to 
the  principal  rooms  in  the  building.     The  first 


THE  HOUSES  OF  PARLIAMENT.  275 

large  room  we  enter  contains  a  gilded  throne  and 
is  known  as  the  Queen's  Eobing  Koom.  From 
this  we  pass  to  the  Royal  Gallery,  a  long  room 
through  which  the  Queen  passes  in  state  to  the 
House  of  Lords  to  open  or  prorogue  parliament. 
Then  another  large  ante-room  called  the  Prince's 
Chamber.  The  next  room  of  the  suite  is  the 
House  of  Lords,  which  is  ninety  feet  long  by 
forty-five  wide.  At  one  end  is  the  royal  throne, 
in  the  middle  the  seats  for  the  members,  and  at 
the  other  end  a  small  space  beyond  the  bar  for 
the  members  of  the  House  of  Commons  who  are 
summoned  hither  when  the  queen  attends  for  the 
purposes  mentioned  above.  No  seats  are  pro- 
vided for  the  Commons,  and  the  space  allotted 
them  will  certainly  not  accommodate  a  fourth  of 
their  number.  Continuing  our  walk,  we  pass  to 
the  Peers'  Lobby,  from  which,  at  one  side,  the 
Peers'  E-obing  Room  opens,  in  which  is  a  famous 
fresco  painting  of  Moses  giving  the  law  to  the 
Israelites,  the  peculiarity  of  it  being  that  the 
painter,  Mr.  J.  R.  Herbert,  with  true  British 
fidelity,  visited  Arabia  and  made  sketches  from 
Mount  Sinai  itself  from  which  to  paint  his  moun- 
tain ;  and  all  the  characters  in  the  picture,  both 
in  feature  and  dress,  are  equally  exact  represent- 
ations of  the  people  of  that  region.  This  is  true 
art. 

Continuing  on  in  a  right  line  we  pass  from  the 


276  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

Peers'  Lobby  to  the  Peers'  Corridor,  and  from 
this  to  the  great  central  octagonal  hall  of  the 
building.  From  this  we  pass  to  the  Commons' 
Corridor,  Commons'  Lobby,  and  House  of  Com- 
mons, which  latter  is  a  sixth  smaller  than  the 
House  of  Lords.  All  these  rooms  are  rich  with 
carved  oak,  stained  Windows,  and  frescoes,  the 
pictures  being  portraits  of  the  kings  and  queens 
of  England  and  notable  scenes  in  English  history. 
It  is  all  rich  and  costly,  but  is  dingy  and  unim- 
posing.  From  the  Central  Hall  we  pass  through 
St.  Stephen's  Hall,  a  building  occupying  the 
exact  site  of  the  old  St.  Stephen's  Chapel,  in 
which  Parliament  sat  up  to  the  time  of  its 
destruction  by  fire  in  1834.  This  brings  us  to 
what  is  really  the  finest  part  of  the  entire  struc- 
ture, old  Westminster  Hall,  built  nearly  eight 
hundred  years  ago,  and  long  regarded  as  the 
finest  old  mediaeval  hall  in  Europe.  In  it  have 
taken  place  most  of  the  famous  state  trials,  and 
in  other  ways  it  is  peculiarly  identified  with 
English  history. 

Just  across  the  street  is  Westminster  Abbey, 
one  of  the  most  famous  churches  in  Europe.  It 
was  built  by  King  Edward  the  Confessor,  about 
eight  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  and  rebuilt  by 
Henry  III.  at  the  period  when  Gothic  architecture 
was  at  the  zenith  of  its  purity  and  excellence.  It 
is  not  one  of  the  larger  churches  of  England, 


WESTMINSTER  ABBEY.  277 

being  only  three  hundred  and  seventy-five  feet 
long,  but  it  is  very  lofty  and  imposing.  Its  chief 
interest,  however,  attaches  to  its  being  the  burial 
place  of  a  large  number  of  the  English  kings, 
together  with  the  great  men  in  literature  and 
statesmanship  through  a  long  period  of  England's 
history.  The  earlier  tombs  are,  of  course,  in  a 
decayed  and  ruinous  condition,  and  few  possess 
any  artistic  beauty.  Fifteen  English  monarchs 
are  interred  here,  including  Edward  the  Confes- 
sor, Richard  II.,  Henry  III.,  Henry  Y.  and 
Henry  YII.,  Edward  I.,  Edward  III.  and  Edward 
YI.,  Mary,  Elizabeth,  James  I.,  Charles  II., 
William  III.,  Anne,  and  George  II.  Oliver 
Cromwell  was  formerly  buried  here,  but  his 
remains  were  exhumed  and  destroyed  at  the  Res- 
toration. Mary  Queen  of  Scots  also  sleeps  here 
in  a  tomb  equal  in  elegance  to  that  of  her  rival, 
Elizabeth.  Here  lie  also  two  of  Henry  YIII.'s 
six  wives,  Jane  Seymour  and  Anne  of  Cleves. 

These  royal  tombs  are  mostly  in  the  chapels 
which  surround  the  choir.  The  south  transept  is 
known  as  Poet' s  Corner,  and  here  are  monuments 
to  Chaucer,  the  earliest  English  poet,  Spenser, 
Shakspeare,  Ben  Jonson,  Milton,  Addison,  Dr. 
Watts,  the  hymn  writer,  Garrick,  the  actor,  John 
and  Charles  Wesley,  Gray,  Southey,  Campbell, 
Sheridan  the  dramatist.  Dr.  Johnson,  Thomson, 
Goldsmith,    Dickens,     Macaulay,    Wordsworth, 


278  FIVE  MOKTHS  ABROAD. 

Thackeray,  and  many  other  famous  poets  and 
authors,  most  of  whom  are  actually  buried  here. 
In  the  north  transept  are  collected  most  of  the 
monuments  of  the  statesmen  buried  in  the  abbey, 
which  include  William  Pitt,  Earl  of  Chatham, 
the  friend  of  America  at  our  Revolutionary 
period,  William  Pitt  the  younger,  whose  states- 
manship proved  more  than  a  match  for  Napo- 
leon's military  genius,  Charles  James  Fox,  Spen- 
cer Percival,  the  prime  minister  who  was  assassi- 
nated in  1812,  Warren  Hastings,  George  Canning, 
Lord  Palmerston,  Lord  Mansfield,  the  eminent 
jurist,  Richard  Cobden,  the  father  of  English  free 
trade,  William  Wilberforce  and  Thomas  Powell 
Buxton  the  leaders  in  the  movement  which  abol- 
ished slavery  in  the  British  colonies,  and  others 
less  widely  known.  Among  other  interesting 
monuments  scattered  over  the  abbey  are  those  of 
the  Duke  of  Buckingham,  the  favorite  of  James 
I. ;  Gen.  Monck,  who,  as  commander  of  the  army, 
abolished  the  Cromwellian  republic  and  restored 
the  monarchy  by  placing  Charles  II.  on  the 
throne ;  James  Watt,  the  perfecter  of  the  steam 
engine ;  Gen.  Wolfe,  the  hero  of  Quebec  ;  Mrs. 
Siddons,  the  great  actress ;  Sir  John  Franklin, 
who  was  lost  in  the  Arctic  regions ;  Admiral 
Kempenfelt,  who  went  down  with  the  British 
man-of-war,  the  Royal  George,  with  her  crew  of 
nearly  nine  hundred  men  off  Spithead  in  1782 — a 


MONUMENTS  IN  WESTMINSTER  ABBEY.       279 

similar  case  to  the  Eurydice  of  a  year  or  two  ago  ; 
Isaac  JSTewton  ;  Herschel,  the  astronomer  ;  Robert 
Stevenson,  the  engineer  who  built  the  Victoria 
bridge  at  Montreal ;  Major  Andre,  the  British  spy 
hanged  by  Washington  ;  and  the  musical  compos- 
ers, Handel,  John  Blow,  and  William  Croft. 

Some  of  the  abbey  monuments  are  old-fash- 
ioned and  ugly  tablets  fastened  upon  the  wall. 
Some  of  the  more  modern  consist  of  statuary  por- 
traits of  the  deceased.  Those  of  the  period  of  the 
Stuarts  are  often  of  stone,  painted  in  various 
bright  colors,  and  the  more  pretentious  royal 
tombs  generally  have  an  effigy  of  the  deceased 
with  an  elaborate  stone  canopy  overhead,  sup- 
ported by  marble  columns.     All  look  very  dingy. 

In  Westminster  Abbey  all  the  sovereigns  of 
England  are  crowned ;  and  here  is  seen  the  shabby 
old  chair  which  for  nearly  six  hundred  years  has 
done  duty  on  such  occasions.  The  sovereigns  of 
Scotland  for  an  even  longer  period  were  crowned 
sitting  on  a  stone,  reputed  to  be  the  veritable  one 
on  which  Jacob  rested  his  head  when  he  had  his 
famous  vision  of  angels  ascending  and  descending 
from  heaven  at  Bethel.  When  the  two  kingdoms 
were  united  the  stone  was  fitted  into  the  seat  of 
the  coronation  chair,  so  that  both  stone  and  chair 
have  since  been  simultaneously  occupied. 

The  visitor  to  the  abbey  must  not  pass  by  the 
Chapter    House,  formerly  the   council  room   of 


280 


FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 


the  authorities  of  the  abbey,  but  for  three  hun- 
dred years  used  for  the  sittings  of  the  British 
House  of  Commons.  In  1547  the  Commons  were 
removed  to  St.  Stephen's  Chapel,  alluded  to 
above,  and  since  then  down  to  a  recent  period  the 
Chapter  House  has  been  used  for  the  storage  of 
public  documents.  It  has  lately  been  entirely 
restored  and  now  serves  as  a  museum  of  antiqui- 
ties connected  with  the  abbey.  It  is  octagonal  in 
form  with  a  stone  vaulted  ceiling,  in  common,  in 
this  respect,  with  every  other  part  of  the  abbey. 
On  Mondays  every  part  of  the  church  is  open 
free  to  the  public,  but  on  other  days  sixpence  is 
charged  for  admission  to  the  chapels.  As  in  all 
cathedrals  full  choral  services  are  held  twice  each 
day,  at  ten  and  three  o'clock.  On  Sunday  even- 
ings there  is  also  a  service  in  the  nave  at  which 
sermons  are  delivered  by  the  ablest  preachers  in 
the  kingdom  to  immense  crowds. 


THE  TOWER  OF  LONDON, 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

LONDON  AND  ART-THE  BRITISH  MUSEUM— THE  NATIONAL  GAL- 
LERY—THE GREAT  FLEMISH,  DUTCH  AND  GERMAN  MASTERS 
—THE  SOUTH  KENSINGTON  MUSEUM. 

Cli  FAMOUS  institution  is  the  British  Museum. 
Jfk  It  began  in  1753  with  a  large  collection  of 
^'  I  V  curiosities  and  antiquities  brought  together 
during  his  lifetime  by  Sir  Hans  Sloane,  and  pur- 
chased after  his  death  by  the  government.  To 
this  collection  additions  were  rapidly  made  by 
purchase  and  donation.  Among  the  larger  gifts 
was  that  of  the  extensive  library  collected  during 
his  long  lifetime  by  King  George  III.,  and  which 
his  pleasure-loving  successor,  George  lY.,  having 
no  use  for,  got  rid  of  by  presenting  it  to  the 
museum.  When  a  nucleus  is  once  formed  for 
such  a  collection  is  is  astonishing  how  rapidly 
accumulation  goes  on.  Forty  years  ago  it  was 
found  necessary  to  rebuild  on  a  much  larger 
scale  the  premises  occupied  by  the  museum,  and 
these  becoming  again  overcrowded,  the  later  policy 
has  been  to  transfer  to  other  museums  certain 
portions  of  the  collection,  so  as  to  leave  this  insti- 
tution almost  purely  a  museum  of  antiquities  and 
library  of  books.     The  latest  removal  has  been 


282  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

that  of  the  extensive  natural  history  collection, 
which  has  been  transferred  to  a  building  erected 
especially  for  its  reception  at  South  Kensington, 
in  the  west  end  of  London.  Under  the  operation 
of  the  copyright  law  a  copy  of  every  new  book 
published  in  Great  Britain  must  be  deposited  in 
the  British  Museum,  and  this,  with  the  large 
resources  of  the  management,  which  enables  them 
to  be  constantly  on  the  search  for  rare  and  valu- 
able books,  has  resulted  in  making  the  library  of 
the  museum,  with  but  one  exception,  the  largest 
in  the  world.  And  this  magnificent  library  is 
open  free  to  everybody,  the  only  requirement 
being  the  recommendation  of  a  householder  or 
person  whose  name  is  found  in  the  city  directory 
of  London.  No  books  are  allowed  to  be  taken 
from  the  library,  but  every  convenience  is  afforded 
for  reading  and  copying  on  the  premises.  The 
library  is  very  rich  also  in  manuscripts,  con- 
taining, among  other  rare  treasures,  one  of  the 
three  oldest  manuscript  copies  of  the  bible  in 
existence,  the  Codex  Alexandrinus,  written  on 
vellum  nearly  fifteen  hundred  years  ago.  It  is 
preserved  in  a  glass  case.  There  is  also  a  copy 
of  the  Latin  Vulgate  of  nearly  eleven  centuries 
antiquity.  Here  also  may  be  seen  in  glass  cases 
a  rich  collection  of  Egyptian  papyri  and  ancient 
and  oriental  books,  some  written  on  sheets  of  gold, 
some   on  cloth,  ivory,  birch  bark,  palm  leaves, 


THE  BRITISH  MUSEUM  LIBRARY.  283 

etc.,  in  a  great  variety  of  forms.  In  other  cases 
are  mediseval  books  beautifully  written  on  parch- 
ment or  vellum,  and  adorned  with  brilliant  water 
color  paintings  and  illuminations.  In  still  other 
cases  are  autograph  letters  of  a  great  number  of 
eminent  men,  including  Luther,  Calvin,  Cranmer, 
Wolsey,  Knox,  Raleigh,  Bacon,  Hampden,  Pen^, 
Newton,  Durer,  Rubens,  Galileo,  Yoltaire,  Swift, 
Addison,  Burke,  Pitt,  Fox,  Washington,  Frank- 
lin, Wellington,  Nelson,  Whitefield,  Goethe,  Shel- 
ley, Handel  and  a  great  many  more,  all  arranged 
so  that  they  may  be  easily  read  and  examined. 
In  this  autographic  collection  most  of  the  kings 
and  queens  of  England  are  represented,  and  if 
Queen  Mary  saw  the  letter  of  Lady  Jane  Grey 
here  exhibited  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that 
she  took  oif  her  head,  for  in  it  she  alludes  to  the 
"Lady  Marye,  bastard  daughter  to  our  greiat 
uncle  Henry  th'  eight." 

In  this  library  there  has  also  been  collected  a 
great  number  of  maps,  drawings  and  prints  illus- 
trating the  changes  that  have  taken  place  in  the 
geography  and  architecture  of  London,  beginning 
at  a  very  early  period.  This  suggests  that  in 
every  city  collections  of  such  maps,  plans,  draw- 
ings and  photographs  should  be  preserved. 

In  another  room  of  the  library  are  exhibited 
early  printed  books,  from  the  period  when  an 
entire  page  used  to  be  engraved  on  a  single  block 


284  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

of  wood,  these  being  known  as  block  books,  down 
to  the  perfection  of  the  art  by  Gutenburg,  with 
specimens  of  his  work,  as  well  as  that  of  Faust, 
Schoeffer  and  Caxton. 

In  another  department  of  the  British  Museum 
there  are  collected  copies  of  every  known  print  or 
engraving  that  has  ever  been  published,  the  work 
of  any  artist  of  note.  Some  of  these  when  very 
rare  have  been  acquired  at  fabulous  cost.  They 
are  all  carefully  mounted  on  thick  paper  of  uni- 
form size,  properly  classified  and  arranged,  and 
preserved  in  portfolios  for  the  use  of  artists  or 
connoisseurs  who  may  wish  to  examine  them. 

But  the  department  of  the  museum  that  is  most 
visited  by  the  general  public  is  that  of  the  anti- 
quities. In  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  remains  no 
other  museum  contains  anything  like  so  rich  a  col- 
lection; as  the  researches  in  the  valleys  of  the 
Tigris  and  Euphrates  have  been  carried  on  mainly 
by  English  explorers,  and  to  a  large  extent  in 
direct  behalf  of  the  British  Museum.  It  is  won- 
derful how  much  may  be  learned  of  the  very  earli- 
est civilization  from  these  resurrected  sculptures, 
inscriptions,  pictures  and  implements.  The 
Egyptian  collection  is  perhaps  somewhat  inferior 
to  that  of  the  Louvre  in  Paris,  as  the  French  did 
for  Egypt  what  England  has  done  for  Assyria ; 
but  the  British  Museum  nevertheless  contains  the 
richest  prize  known  to  Egyptology  in  the  Rosetta 


THE  ELGIN  MARBLES.  285 

stone,  the  sole  key  to  the  deciphering  of  the 
Egyptian  hieroglyphic  records.  It  is  a  slab  of 
stone  about  the  size  of  the  top  of  a  small  table 
with  an  inscription  upon  it  in  three  different  lan- 
guages, Egyptian  hieroglyphic,  Coptic  and  Greek. 
The  Greek  being  of  course  understood,  the  hiero- 
glyphics were  easily  unraveled. 

Passing  to  the  Grecian  department  we  again 
find  the  rarest  treasures  in  the  sculptures  which 
formerly  adorned  the  pediments  of  the  famous 
Parthenon  at  Athens,  and  which  are  believed  to 
be  the  work  of  Phidias,  the  greatest  of  ancient 
sculptors.  These  are/ known  as  the  Elgin  mar- 
bles, because  brought  to  England  by  Lord  Elgin 
while  minister  to  Turkey.  They  are  esteemed  as 
priceless  treasures.  There  are  also  to  be  seen 
here  many  sculptured  fragments  from  the  famous 
tomb  of  Mausolus,  reckoned  by  the  ancients  one 
of  the  seven  wonders  of  the  world. 

In  Roman  antiquities,  of  course  the  galleries  at 
Rome  are  superior  in  extent  and  richness,  but, 
taken  altogether,  the  British  Museum  is  quite  the 
peer  of  the  Louvre  and  the  Vatican  in  the  inter- 
esting character  of  its  antique  treasures. 

This  leads  me  to  remark,  by  way  of  generaliz- 
ing, that  the  museums  and  galleries  of  London 
are,  as  a  rule,  more  satisfactory  to  visitors  than 
those  found  on  the  continent,  because  more  care- 
fully selected  and  better  arranged,  and  less  over- 


286  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

loaded  with  rubbish.  And  all  the  great  English 
galleries  and  mnseums  are  entirely  free  to  the 
public.  Thus,  of  all  the  galleries  of  old  jDaintings 
I  have  seen,  I  like  the  National  Gallery  the  best, 
for  these  reasons  :  1.  It  is  not  so  extensive,  the 
pictures  are  more  carefully  selected,  and  one  has 
not  to  search  among  a  score  of  very  ordinary  pic- 
tures for  every  one  worth  examination.  2.  Most 
of  the  pictures  are  exhibited  under  glass,  by 
which  means  they  are  kept  clean  and  bright ;  and 
every  picture  is  labeled,  both  with  the  subject  and 
the  name  of  the  artist,  with  the  years  of  his 
birth  and  death.  3.  The  rooms,  having  been  con- 
structed especially  for  the  purpose  they  are  used 
for,  are  much  better  lighted,  and  the  pictures 
every  way  seen  to  better  advantage,  than  in  any 
gallery  in  Kome,  Florence,  or  Paris.  4.  As  a 
rule,  all  the  great  painters  are  represented  by 
excellent  specimens  of  their  work.  5.  The  cata- 
logues contain  satisfactory  sketches  of  the  lives 
of  the  painters,  and,  where  necessary,  descrip- 
tions of  the  pictures.  Altogether  one  derives  in 
London  a  more  intelligent  and  satisfactory  intro- 
duction to  the  great  masters,  with  less  wearisome 
labor,  than  anywhere  else. 

The  National  Gallery  was  founded  in  1824,  and 
now  contains  about  eleven  hundred  choice  paint- 
ings in  oil.  Of  these  over  four  hundred  are  of 
the  British  school,  and  are  as  a  rule  a  delightful 


BRITISH  PAINTERS.  287 

lot  of  pictures.  Instead  of  tortured  martyrs, 
bloody  heads  of  Medusa,  or  simpering  nude 
figures  such,  as  have  been  so  much  affected  by  the 
continental  painters,  here  we  have  delicious  rural 
landscapes,  glorious  marine  views,  wonderfully 
life-like  animals,  and  charming  genre  pictures, 
displaying  more  real  genius  than  all  tlie  saints 
and  madonnas  of  the  old  masters  put  together. 

Four  of  the  so-called  British  painters  here  rep- 
resented were  really  Americans,  viz :  Benjamin 
West,  died  1820,  J.  S.  Copley,  1815,  Gilbert 
Stuart,  1828,  and  C.  R.  Leslie,  1859.  The  picture 
of  West's  exhibited  at  our  Centennial  was  very 
far  from  being  one  of  his  best.  In  '^Christ  Heal- 
ing the  Sick,"  in  the  National  Gallery,  his  Christ, 
for  softness  and  beauty,  is  quite  worthy  of 
Murillo. 

For  quiet  landscapes  Patrick  Nasmyth,  who 
died  in  1831,  leads  all  others,  though  John  Con- 
stable, 1834,  is  perhaps  quite  as  famous.  For 
marine  views  none  can  approach  Clarkson  Stan- 
field,  who  himself  began  life  as  a  sailor.  He  died 
in  1867.  The  best  genre  painters — by  which  we 
mean  delineators  of  ordinary  scenes  in  every  day 
life— are  Sir  David  Wilkie,  1841,  and  Wm.  Mul- 
ready,  1863.  As  animal  painters  I  can  hardly 
choose  between  Sir  Edwin  Landseer,  who  died  in 
1873,  and  Sir  T.  Sidney  Coojjer,  who  is  still  living. 
Leslie,  alluded  to  above,  seems  to  have  excelled 
in  his  character  delineations. 


288  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

But  the  most  famous  painter  in  this  gallery  is 
J.  M.  W.  Turner,  who  died  in  1851,  and  left  his 
large  collection  of  paintings  to  the  British  nation. 
At  a  first  glance  Turner's  pictures  are  noticeable 
for  their  brilliancy.  Inspected  more  closely,  one 
hardly  knows  what  to  make  of  them,  and  almost 
doubts  if  *their  hanging  there  be  not  a  huge  joke. 
He  looks  at  one  closely,  and  finds  it  only  a  mass 
of  white  paint  thickly  laid  on,  with  little  daubs 
of  color  here  and  there.  Likeness  of  anything, 
in  either  heaven  above  or  in  the  earth  beneath,  it 
is  impossible  to  distinguish.  He  crosses  the  room 
and  takes  a  distant  view  of  it,  but  it  is  no  more 
a  picture  than  before.  It  expresses  nothing  but 
a  great  uncertainty.  And  this  is  the  general 
character  of  all  the  later  pictures  of  this  remark- 
able artist,  whose  works  are  so  much  prized.  Of 
course  all  his  paintings  are  not  equally  obscure. 
Turner  made  his  reputation  in  the  first  instance 
upon  the  great  care  and  fidelity  with  which  his 
pictures  were  worked  up.  Then  he  began  in  later 
life  to  sacrifice  careful  drawing  to  briUiancy  of 
coloring,  and  toward  the  close  of  his  career  he 
seems  to  have  aimed  at  seeing  how  little  of  repre- 
sentation of  anything  he  could  produce  and  still 
have  it  pass  for  a  picture.  The  connoisseur  of 
course  pretends  to  think  his  works  very  beau- 
tiful, but  I  am  quite  sure  that  nine  hundred  and 
ninety-nine  out  of  every  one  thousand  of  my 


TURNER'S  PICTURES.  289 

readers  wonld  pronounce  Turner  an  arrant  hum- 
bug. Still,  it  is  interesting  to  sit  down  for  an 
hour  and  examine  pictures  that  are  so  highly 
valued.  What  is  a  picture?  Webster  says,  '*a 
resemblance  in  color."  The  nearer  the  resem- 
blance, therefore,  of  course  the  better  the  picture, 
and  I  am  unable  to  see  how  any  amount  of  skill 
in  laying  on  the  color  can  compensate  for  defi- 
ciencies in  delineation.  The  nearer  the  approach 
to  nature,  common  sense  would  dictate,  the  more 
meritorious  the  art.  A  picture  that  requires  cul- 
tivation to  understand  cannot  by  this  rule  be  a 
picture  of  the  highest  merit,  though  no  doubt 
people  may  work  themselves  up  to  a  high  esteem 
for  it,  just  as  they  do  for  ugly  old  porcelain  and 
rubbishing  old  furniture.  I  fancy  there  is  very 
much  of  this  factitious  taste  in  the  admiration 
that  is  expressed  for  the  works  of  Turner  as 
well  as  for  those  of  Titian  and  others  of  the  old 
masters.  But  I  prefer  pictures  that  everybody 
can  appreciate. 

It  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  mention  here  the 
names  of  some  of  the  great  German,  Dutch  and 
Flemish  masters,  as  those  of  France  and  Italy 
have  already  been  summed  up  in  former  chapters. 
Perhaps  the  most  famous  of  all  is  the  Flemish  or 
Belgian  painter,  Peter  Paul  Rubens,  who  was 
born  in  1577  and  died  in  1G40.  His  pictures  in 
the  various  galleries  of  northern  Europe  are  very 

19 


290  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

numerous  and  his  style  so  well  defined  that  one 
soon  learns  to  pick  out  his  works  with  tolerable 
certainty.  His  subjects  ^.re  almost  exclusively 
historical  scenes  painted  on  large  expanses  of 
canvas,  with  figures  often  life  size,  generally  spir- 
ited but  frequently  gross  and  indelicate  and  lack- 
ing in  grace  and  dignity.  The  next  most  eminent 
Plemish  painter  is  Yan  Dyke  (1599-1641).  He 
was  particularly  famous  for  his  portraits.  Then 
comes  David  Teniers  the  elder  (1582-1649)  and 
David  Teniers  the  younger  (1610-1690),  both  of 
Antwerp,  whose  pictures  are  almost  invariably 
home-like  country  or  village  scenes,  in  which  a 
great  number  of  figures  are  introduced.  Unlike 
those  of  Rubens  the  Teniers  pictures  are  almost 
invariably  of  comparatively  small  size.  They, 
too,  are  easily  identified. 

Of  the  Dutch  or  Holland  masters,  there  are 
Rembrandt  (1606-1674),  whose  paintings  are 
remarkable  chiefly  for  having  most  of  their  sur- 
face very  dark  and  obscure  but  some  particular 
portion  brought  out  very  strongly  in  high  lights ; 
Paul  Potter  (1625-1654)  and  Albert  Cuyp  (1605- 
1691),  both  famous  animal  painters,  particularly 
of  domestic  cattle ;  Ruysdaal  (1630-1681)  and 
Hobbima  (1629-1670),  both  delightful  landscape 
artists;  Gerard  Dow  (1613-1680),  a  celebrated 
genre  painter ;  Wm.  Yan  cle  Yeldt  (1633-1707),  a 
splendid   marine    painter ;    Wouwerman    (1619- 


THE  ROYAL  ACADEMY.  291 

1668),  an  admirable  delineator  of  horses  and  bat- 
tle scenes,  and  others  almost  equally  noted. 

The  German  school  numbers  Jan  Yan  Eyck 
(1390-1441),  the  inventor  of  oil  colors;  Albert 
Durer  (1471-1533),  a  masterly  painter,  but  more 
famous  as  an  engraver,  and  Hans  Holbein  (1497- 
1554),  a  painter  chiefly  of  portraits. 

What  the  Salon  is  to  Paris  the  exhibition  of 
the  Hoyal  Academy  is  to  London.  The  exhibi- 
tion, which  continues  through  the  months  of 
May,  June  and  July  each  year,  last  year  (1881) 
numbered  about  fifteen  hundred  pictures,  all,  of 
course,  new  ones.  While  less  extensive  than  the 
French  Salon,  this  exhibition  is  scarcely  less 
interesting,  the  modern  British  painters  having 
developed  a  high  degree  of  perfection  in  certain 
fields.  Thus  they  seem  particularly  to  excel  as 
animal  j)ainters,  as  I  have  nowhere  else  seen  such 
life-like  productions  as  in  this  country  of  Land- 
seer.  Landscapes,  marine  views,  quiet  genre  pic- 
tures, and  perhaps  I  may  add  historical  paint- 
ings, seem  t^  be  also  the  forte  of  English  artists. 
IN'udities,  which  French  painters  seem  to  regard 
as  the  highest  achievement  of  art  and  in  which 
they  certainly  excel,  the  English  painters  do  not 
at  all  affect.  I  think  there  was  scarcely  one  nude 
figure  in  the  entire  catalogue  of  the  Academy. 
The  French,  I  fancy,  also  excel  in  battle  pieces ; 
the  English  more  in  subjects  that  will  admit  of  a 
faithful  reproduction  of  nature. 


292  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD.  -^ 

In  statuary  the  Frencli  are  no  doubt  incompar- 
ably ahead  of  the  English.  Sculjpture  seems  to 
find  its  best  development  in  the  warm  countries 
of  southern  Europe,  while  painting  and  architect- 
ure improve  as  we  advance  northward.  I  think 
there  is  a  more  painstaking  fidelity  to  nature  in 
northern  painters,  and  better  conceptions  of  effect 
in  northern  architects.  The  Italian  painters  of 
all  ages  seem  more  to  have  cultivated  the  imagin- 
ative, and  their  architects  to  have  sacrificed  every- 
thing to  immensity,  in  their  productions. 

Picture  galleries  are  terribly  wearisome  places 
for  the  legs,  the  standing  for  hours  together  being 
the  most  tiring  of  occupations,  but  they  may 
nevertheless  be  made  very  interesting  even  to  the 
merest  tyros  in  art.  There  is  cultivation  in 
merely  determining  in  one' s  own  mind  which  is 
the  best  picture  in  a  room  full,  and  comparing 
results  with  the  conclusions  of  one's  companions. 
This  tends  no  doubt  to  develop  a  critical  observa- 
tion. The  peculiarities  of  painters  may  also  soon 
be  learned,  so  that  one  with  a  little  practice  may 
XDretty  safely  venture  to  name  the  artist  without 
referring  to  his  catalogue.  Of  course  this  does 
not  apply  to  all  painters,  but  the  pictures  of 
Andrea  del  Sarto,  Era  Angelico,  Ganaletto, 
Murillo,  Claude  Loraine,  Yernet,  Teniers,  and 
some  others,  we  soon  learn  to  tell  almost  at  a 
glance. 


THE  SOUTH  KENSINGTON  MUSEUM.  293 

One  of  tlie  outgrowths  of  the  great  interna- 
tional exposition  held  in  London  in  1851  was  the 
South  Kensington  Museum.  The  exhibition  itself 
proved  a  stimulus  to  art-culture,  and  the  profits 
accruing  from  it  formed  a  nucleus  fund  for  the 
establishment  of  this  grand  museum  of  arts  and 
sciences.  The  latter  has  grown  with  wonder- 
ful rapidity,  and  provision  is  made  for  still 
immense  expansion  in  the  future.  The  museum 
occupies  twelve  acres  of  land  in  the  west  end  of 
London,  upon  which  very  extensive  buildings — 
some  permanent,  others  only  temporary— have 
from  time  to  time  been  erected.  The  scope  of  the 
museum  is  mainly  in  the  direction  of  art  culture. 
It  embraces  a  large  collection  of  models  of  famous 
architectural  works  and  casts  of  architectural 
details,  a  very  large  collection  of  ceramics,  a 
^reat  variety  and  endless  number  of  miscella- 
neous objects  of  an  art  character,  ancient  and 
modern,  including  bronzes,  furniture,  glassware, 
jewelry,  carved  work,  etc.,  and  a  very  large  col- 
lection of  drawings  and  paintings  by  British 
artists.  The  large  museum  of  East  Indian  curios- 
ities formerly  belonging  to  the  East  India  Com- 
pany, also  occupies  a  suite  of  rooms  at  South 
Kensington,  and  there  are  also  extensive  libraries 
of  works  on  educational  and  art  topics.  To  care- 
fully examine  everything  would  take  a  week's 
time  at  the  very  least. 


294  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

We  first  enter  the  National  Portrait  Gallery, 
which,  contains  several  hundred  portraits  and 
busts  of  English  celebrities  from  the  earliest  peri- 
ods, and  which  very  much  resembles  in  character 
the  great  gallery  of  portraits  at  Versailles, 
described  in  a  former  chapter.  These  great  por- 
trait galleries  are  very  interesting,  and  it  is  high 
time  that  an  American  collection  were  begun  at 
our  national  capital,  state  collections  at  each 
state  capital,  and  local  galleries  at  every  import- 
ant point.  Ee tiring  governors,  mayors  and 
members  of  Congress  ought  to  present  their 
portraits  to  such  galleries,  and  search  should  be 
made  for  old  j^aintings,  sketches,  engravings  and 
photographs  of  the  men  who  in  the  past  have 
been  identified  in  any  way  with  the  history  of  the 
commonwealth. 

The  gallery  of  miscellaneous  pictures  in  the 
South  Kensington  JMuseum  is  very  extensive  and 
interesting.  It  is  composed  mainly  of  private  col- 
lections that  have  been  bequeathed  or  presented  to 
the  museum,  and  of  pictures  loaned  to  it.  Among 
the  latter  are  the  seven  famous  cartoons  of 
E-aphael,  which  long  hung  in  Hampton  Court 
palace,  and  of  which  prints  are  so  common. 
There  are  also  a  number  of  choice  pictures  belong- 
ing to  the  Royal  Academy,  some  of  the  best 
selected  from  the  annual  exhibitions,  and  pur- 
chased from  a  fund  provided  for  the  purpose. 


THE  NATURAL  HISTORY  MUSEUM.  295 

The  bequests  and  donations  include  an  immense 
number  of  water  colors  and  drawings  by  eminent 
artists,  and  their  examination  is  very  enjoyable. 
Besides  pictures,  some  of  these  bequests  include 
valuable  collections  of  autograph  letters,  notably 
the  Forster  collection,  which  contains  the  original 
manuscripts  of  several  of  Charles  Dickens's  most 
important  works,  including  David  Copp'erfield, 
Martin  Chuzzlewit,  Oliver  Twist,  and  the  Old 
Curiosity  Shop.  These  autograph  collections  are 
of  rare  interest  to  all  who  are  fond  of  history  and 
literature. 

Connected  with  the  South  Kensington  Museum 
are  art  schools  open  to  every  one  at  the  trilling 
fee  of  about  five  dollars  per  month. 

Near  the  South  Kensington  Museum  is  the  new 
Natural  History  Museum,  the  branch  of  the  Brit- 
ish Museum  alluded  to  above.  It  is  a  very  large 
and  beautiful  building,  with  both  inside  and  out- 
side walls  of  terra  cotta,  and  with  much  original- 
ity in  its  design.  It  will  probably  be  the  com- 
pletest  thing  of  the  kind  in  the  world  Avhen  open 
in  all  its  branches,  and,  as  in  the  South  Kensing- 
ton Museum,  everything  is  so  nicely  labeled  and 
described  that  it  is  a  pleasure  to  go  through  it. 
I  should  have  mentioned  that  all  these  museums 
and  galleries,  that  of  the  Royal  Academy  alone 
excepted,  are  open  free  to  the  public,  and  thous- 
ands visit  them  daily. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

LONDON-THE  WAX  WORKS-CRYSTAL  PALACE— ENGLISH  TWI- 
LIGHTS—LAW PRACTICE  IN  ENGLAND— LAND  TENURES— LIM- 
ITED LIABILITY  COMPANIES-TEMPERANCE   AND   PROFANITY. 


NE  of  tlie  standard    sights   of    London    is 


\tj  Madame  Tussaud's  exhibition  of  wax  works 
in  Baker  street.  The  founder,  Madame 
Tassaud,  was  a  Swiss  artist,  patronized  by  the 
court  of  Louis  XVI.  of  France.  She  w^as  one  of 
the  sufferers  by  the  French  revohition,  and  ulti- 
mately took  refuge  in  England,  where  she  devoted 
her  artistic  talents  to  the  modeling  of  a  series  of 
portrait  figures  in  wax  of  the  celebrities  of  her 
day.  At  first  her  show  was  of  the  traveling 
order,  but  it  soon  outgrew  the  capacity  of  the 
means  of  conveyance  of  that  period,  and  for 
nearly  half  a  century  has  been  permanently 
located  in  London.  New  figures  are  added  from 
time  to  time,  and  those  which  have  lost  interest 
with  the  public,  are  removed  to  make  room  for 
them.  Conspicuous  among  the  collection  to-day 
are  the  figure  of  the  late  President  Garfield,  those 
of  all  the  members  of  the  royal  family  of  Eng- 
land, with  the  boyish-looking  Marquis  of  Lome, 
Mr.  Grladstone,  the  principal  participants  in  the 


MADAME  TUSSAUD'S  297 

Afghan  war,  the  members  of  the  famous  Congress 
of  Berlin,  and  a  great  number  of  other  public 
characters,  including  Spurgeon,  Baroness  Bur- 
dett-Coutts,  John  Bright,  H.  M.  Stanley,  Parnell, 
the  claimant  in  the  Tichborne  case,  Bradlaugh, 
etc.,  etc.  But  of  fully  equal  interest  is  a  fine 
collection  of  all  the  kings  of  England  and  the 
great  men  of  past  ages,  as  Wyckliffe,  Wolsey, 
Luther,  Regent  Murray,  Calvin,  Knox  and  many 
others.  Two  entire  rooms  are  devoted  to  the 
Napoleon  family  and  relics  connected  therewith, 
including  the  veritable  carriages  that  Napoleon  I. 
used  at  Waterloo,  and  that  Napoleon  III.  was 
captured  in  at  Sedan.  But  one  of  the  most  inter- 
esting objects  exhibited  is  the  knife  of  the  original 
guillotine  used  during  the  French  revolution  and 
which  took  off  the  heads  of  Louis  XVI.,  Marie 
Antoinette,  Madame  Roland,  Robespierre  and 
thousands  of  other  famous  and  unknown  French 
men  and  women. 

By  the  way,  I  admire  the  guillotine  as  a  mode 
of  execution.  It  is  instantaneous  in  its  operation, 
and  blundering  on  the  part  of  the  executioner 
is  impossible.  In  each  of  the  two  upright  posts 
of  the  instrument  there  are  two  parallel  grooves. 
In  the  first  is  fitted  the  collar  that  encircles  the 
neck  of  the  victim — the  same  being  a  board  with 
a  round  hole  in  it,  cut  into  two  sections,  the 
upper  of  which  slides  up  in  the  grove  to  admit 


298  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

the  head.  In  the  other  groove  slides  the  heavy 
knife  with  diagonal  blade,  which  nicely  shaves 
off  the  head  close  to  the  wooden  collar.  ISTothing 
could  be  more  neat  and  satisfactory,  and,  if  we 
must  perpetuate  capital  punishment,  it  will  be  a 
great  step  in  advance  when  we  abolish  the  old 
and  barbarous  gallows  and  adopt  the  product  of 
the  higher  French  civilization,  the  guillotine. 

My  older  readers  will  remember  the  great  inter- 
national industrial  exhibition  held  in  Hyde  Park, 
London,  in  1851,  the  pioneer  exhibition  of  the 
kind.  The  building  in  which  it  was  held,  con- 
structed wholly  of  iron  and  glass,  was  in  its  day 
"unique.  It  covered  a  dozen  or  more  acres  of 
ground,  and  when  the  exhibition  was  over  was 
purchased  by  some  of  the  railway  companies,  in 
connection  with  other  capitalists,  and  removed  to 
a  high  hill  at  Sydenham,  seven  miles  south  of 
London  where,  with  two  hundred  acres  of  ground 
attached  to  it,  it  was  opened  in  1854  as  the  Crystal 
Palace,  a  grand  place  of  public  amusement.  Two 
railways  run  into  stations  directly  connected  with 
the  building,  and  the  traffic  this  palace  creates  is 
immense.  A  good  share  of  the  space  in  the  struc- 
ture is  rented  out  to  tradesmen  for  the  exhibition 
and  sale  of  their  wares,  and  to  restaurateurs, 
confectioners,  beer  sellers  and  others,  who  supply 
refreshments  to  the  multitudes  of  visitors.  Then 
there  are  casts  of  all  the  most  famous  statuary 


THE  CRYSTAL  PALACE.  299 

in  the  world,  casts  of  rare  and  beautiful  pieces 
ol  architectural  ornament  from  all  countries,  a 
winter  garden,  ferneries,  an  aquarium,  theater, 
concert  hall,  great  organ  and  other  permanent 
attractions.  Besides  these,  temporary  exhibitions 
of  all  kinds  are  on  from  time  to  time.  At  the 
time  of  our  visit  the  specialties  were  a  rose  show, 
and  a  display  of  woolen  manufacturing  machinery 
in  full  operation.  In  a  few  weeks  these  would  be 
replaced  by  other  novelties.  There  are  also  in 
the  building  a  great  number  of  extra  shows,  to 
which  additional  admission  fees  are  charged,  and 
these  change  as  their  popularity  declines.  The 
grounds  outside  are  laid  out  in  magnificent  terraces 
and  gardens,  with  lakes  and  fountains,  and  plenty 
of  open  space  suitable  for  any  outdoor  exhibi- 
tions that  may  be  required.  On  each  Thursday 
evening  during  the  summer  season  a  grand  dis- 
play of  fireworks  is  given,  and  these  far  surpass 
any  of  our  Fourth  of  July  exhibitions  at  home. 
Besides  enormous  set  pieces  of  artistic  design, 
the  other  fireworks  embrace  many  kinds  wholly 
unknown  to  us  and  some  of  surpassing  beauty. 
One  set  piece  in  particular  enlisted  our  admira- 
tion. It  was  a  huge  willow  tree,  fifty  feet  high, 
the  trunk  and  branches  of  which  were  outlined 
in  white  light,  while  the  drooping  leaves  and 
smaller  branches  were  represented  by  showers  of 
green  sparks.     The  eJSect  can  be  imagined,  and 


800  FIVE  MONTHS  ABKOAD. 

this  illustrates  the  perfection  to  whicli  pyrotechny 
has  been  brought  in  England.  The  railroads  sell 
round  trip  tickets  to  the  Crystal  Palace,  with 
admission  included,  for  about  two  shillings,  or 
forty-eight  cents. 

There  are  many  other  things  in  London  worthy 
of  a  visit,  but  which  must  be  passed  over  briefly 
here.  Among  these  are  the  Regent's  Park, 
Zoological  Gardens,  the  finest  in  the  world ;  Ken- 
sington Palace,  where  Queen  Victoria  was  born, 
and  Buckingham  Palace,  where  she  lives  when 
in  London  ;  Hampton  Court,  a  palace  erected  by 
Cardinal  Wolsey ;  Chelsea  Hospital,  "thelnva- 
lides"  of  London  ;  Greenwich  Hospital,  formerly 
a  palace,  now  an  asylum  for  decayed  seamen  ;  the 
Botanical  Gardens  at  Kew,  some  miles  up  the 
Thames ;  the  immense  docks  of  London,  the  sys- 
tem of  underground  railways,  the  new  law  courts 
in  the  Strand,  the  quaint  old  Inns  of  Court,  and 
many  interesting  churches,  monuments,  picture 
galleries,  and  places  of  historic  association. 

Sunday  evening  services  in  the  churches  are 
usually  held  at  half -past  six  or  seven  o'clock, 
instead  of  half -past  seven  or  eight,  as  with  us. 
In  hot  summer  evenings  it  is  far  preferable,  as 
thereby  the  use  of  gas  is  dispensed  with,  and 
people  have  a  long  evening  at  home  after  church. 

Owing  to  the  much  higher  latitude,  the  summer 
days  in  England  are  noticeably  longer  than  with 


A  COMPARISON  OF  LATITUDES.  301 

US.  In  July  it  is  light  enougli  to  read  at  nine 
o'clock  in  the  evening  and  it  is  near  ten  before  it 
is  fairly  dark.  Of  course  in  the  winter  the  days 
are  correspondingly  short.  If  the  reader  has 
never  had  his  attention  attracted  to  the  fact,  it 
may  surprise  him  to  know  that  London  in  the 
southern  part  of  England  is  in  a  latitude  higher 
than  any  point  in  the  United  States,  Alaska,  of 
course,  excepted,  being  on  about  the  i^arallel  of 
the  northern  edge  of  the  Province  of  Manitoba. 
Paris  is  in  about  the  latitude  of  the  northern 
edge  of  Minnesota,  Florence  in  about  that 
of  Green  Bay,  Wis.,  and  Rome  about  that  of 
Chicago. 

A  friend  showed  me  one  day  a  bill  that  a  law- 
yer had  rendered  for  services  in  transferring  a 
lease  of  some  property  in  London,  the  amount 
being  something  over  forty  pounds  sterling,  or 
about  two  hundred  dollars — an  amount  very 
nearly  equaling  the  value  of  the  lease  itself.  So 
it  is  apparent  that  the  legal  profession  is  much 
the  same  all  the  world  over.  The  lawyers  enjoy 
the  oyster,  the  clients  must  be  content  with  the 
shells. 

Still,  it  is  said,  there  is  no  such  overplus  of 
lawyers  in  England  as  exists  in  America.  Greater 
restrictions  are  thrown  about  an  entry  at  the  bar 
than  with  us.  Instead  of  a  couple  of  terms  at  a 
law  school  putting  a  young  snob  on  an  equal 


302  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

footing  with  the  old  members  of  the  profession,  a 
five  years'  apprenticeship  in  the  ofiice  of  a  prac- 
ticing lawyer  is  required,  and  for  the  privilege  of 
thus  learning,  a  premium  of  from  one  thousand 
to  two  thousand  dollars  has  to  be  paid  to  the  said 
lawyer,  besides  a  stamp  tax  of  about  four  hun- 
dred dollars  to  the  government.  The  student 
during  this  ^\e  years  receives  no  compensation 
for  anything  he  may  do,  nor  can  he  practice  on 
his  own  account  till  fully  out  of  his  time.  Only 
those,  therefore,  who  can  afford  an  immediate 
payment  of  fifteen  hundred  to  twenty-five  hun- 
dred dollars,  and  who  can  afford  to  spend  five 
years  wholly  without  remuneration,  can  aspire  to 
the  legal  profession.  During  the  five  years,  the 
unworthy  and  incompetent  are  naturally  culled 
out,  so  that  the  English  bar  ranks  far  above  ours 
in  both  ability  and  respectability. 

When  out  of  his  time  the  young  lawyer  is 
licensed  as  a  solicitor,  and  in  this  capacity  is 
qualified  to  advise  clients,  prepare  cases  for  trial, 
draw  papers  and  perform  other  such  functions ; 
but  the  solicitor  never  appears  in  court.  When 
he  has  a  case  ready  for  trial  it  is  turned  over  to  a 
barrister,  a  lawyer  of  a  higher  grade,  who  alone 
is  empowered  to  conduct  trials.  In  the  selection 
of  barristers  there  is,  of  course,  another  weeding 
out,  and  thus  the  i)urity  of  the  English  bar  is 
maintained.     Barristers  of  the  highest  repute  are 


ENGLISH  LAWYERS.  303 

in  due  time  promoted  to  the  rank  of  queen's 
counsel,  and  become  benchers  in  the  inns  of  court. 
There  is  thus  a  constant  avenue  for  advancement 
open  to  every  lawyer,  and  no  one  can  afford  to 
jeopardize  his  future  by  shystering  practice  unless 
he  be  a  confirmed  Quirk,  Gammon  or  Snap. 

Land  tenure  in  England  presents  some  curious 
features.  Originally  all  the  land  was  assumed  to 
belong  to  the  king,  who  granted  it  to  his  favor- 
ites, but  who  exacted  an  acknowledgment  of  his 
feudal  ownership  in  the  shape  of  fines  to  be  paid 
every  time  the  property  changed  occupants  by 
descent  or  otherwise.  In  like  manner  these  ten- 
ants-in-chief granted  lands  in  smaller  subdivisions 
to  their  retainers,  exacting  similar  fines  at  each 
transfer  of  ownership.  And  this  system  very 
largely  continues  to  the  present  day,  the  title 
under  it  being  known  as  *' copyhold."  Gradu- 
ally, however,  a  ''freehold"  system  like  our  own 
is  becoming  more  general. 

All  over  England  there  are  large  tracts  of  wood 
land  known  as  royal  forests,  originally  the  hunt- 
ing grounds  of  the  kings  of  England.  The  title 
to  the  soil  in  these  forests  has  been  particularly 
involved.  The  crown  seems  to  have  exercised 
only  hunting  rights.  Other  rights,  as  of  cutting 
timber,  digging  gravel,  etc.,  were  enjoyed  by  the 
so-called  lord  of  the  manor,  but  he  had  no  right 
to  inclose.     Then  all  persons  whose  homesteads 


304  FIVE  MON'THS  ABROAD. 

adjoined  the  forests  possessed  by  long  usage  the 
right  of  pasturing  stock  in  them  and  of  cropping 
the  timber  for  firewood.  Just  northeast  of  Lon- 
don is  a  famous  old  forest  ten  or  twelve  miles 
long,  by  two  or  three  wide,  known  as  Epping 
Forest.  As  London  spread  out  in  that  direction, 
laiid  in  the  vicinity  became  immensely  valuable, 
and  the  idea,  worthy  of  an  American  speculator, 
suggested  itself  to  some  one  to  gain  possession  of 
the  immense  property  and  cut  it  up  into  building 
lots  ;  and  the  scheme  well  nigh  succeeded.  First 
the  lord  of  the  manor,  by  some  influence  at  court, 
purchased  for  a  song  the  royal  hunting  privileges. 
This  it  was  thought  would  remove  all  obstacle  to 
inclosing  the  property;  but  the  land  grabbers 
were  too  fast.  'No  sooner  was  their  scheme  appar- 
ent than  the  commoners,  as  those  enjoying  pas- 
ture rights  were  called,  flew  to  the  courts  for 
injunctions,  and  a  hot  flght  was  inaugurated,  the 
result  of  which  would  have  been  very  doubtful, 
in  view  of  the  immense  stake  for  which  the  spec- 
ulators played,  had  not  the  corporation  of  the 
city  of  London,  with  its  great  resources,  taken 
up  the  cause  of  the  commoners.  By  virtue  of 
owning  a  piece  of  cemetery  land  adjoining  the 
forest,  the  city  of  London  was  itself  one  of  the 
commoners,  and  right  heartily  did  it  stand  up  for 
its  rights.  The  litigation  ended  at  last  in  the 
triumph  of  the  people,  and  the  subsequent  pur- 


EPPING  FOREST.  305 

chase  by  the  city,  for  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars,  of  all  the  royal  and  manorial 
rights.  An  act  of  Parliament  was  then  procured 
establishing  the  forest  as  a  public  park  for  all 
time  to  come,  and  cutting  off  the  rights  of  the 
commoners  to  crop  the  trees.  There  will  now  be 
a  chance  for  the  stunted  beeches  with  which  it  is 
covered  to  expand  into  large  trees,  but  beyond 
the  preservation  of  the  property  it  is  not  the 
intention  to  immediately  embark  in  any  extensive 
improvements  of  it. . 

In  England,  when  a  person  acquires  sufficient 
wealth  to  enable  him  to  live  comfortably  on  the 
interest  of  his  means,  he  almost  invariably  retires 
from  active  business  and  gives  other  men  a 
chance — a  practice  which  ought  to  be  more  com- 
mon in  America.  But  with  us,  usually  the  more 
a  man  is  worth,  the  deeper  he  dips  in,  and  the 
more  he  seeks  to  monopolize  all  the  trade  of  his 
locality. 

Frequently  men  get  out  of  business  by  convert- 
ing their  establishments  into  limited  liability  com- 
panies. Such  companies  are  very  common  in  Eng- 
land in  every  field  of  commercial  enterprise. 
They  are  very  popular,  and  no  doubt  useful, 
though  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  the  system 
is  often  abused.  Sometimes  rotten  concerns  are 
unloaded  ujjon  such  corporations ;  sometimes  they 
are  made  the  instruments  of  swindlers  to  secure 

20 


306  FIVE  MOI^TIIS  ABROAD. 

them  the  handling  of  other  people's  money; 
sometimes  the  rights  of  minorities  are  overridden 
by  dishonest  majority  stockholders ;  and  some- 
times the  interests  of  all  are  neglected  by  incom- 
petent and  inefficient  directors.  But  often  it 
happens  that  a  capable  man  jDossesses  the  ele- 
ments of  success,  and  when  backed  with  capital, 
is  able  greatly  to  benefit  himself,  and  at  the  same 
time  make  large  profits  for  his  backers.  In  such 
cases  these  companies  find  their  legitimate  use. 
They  i)rove  safe  and  profitable  investments  for 
capitalists,  and  enable  capable  men  to  advance 
themselves  who  otherwise  would  have  to  be  con- 
tent merely  with  the  wages  of  humble  emj^loyes. 
For  fifteen  or  twenty  years  the  English  barbers 
have  been  brushing  hair  by  machinery,  and  I 
wonder  the  idea  has  never  been  adopted  in  Amer- 
ica. A  line  of  shafting,  usually  driven  by  a  small 
steam  engine,  runs  along  the  ceiling  of  the  shop, 
upon  which  there  is  a  grooved  pulley  over  each 
chair.  From  each  pulley  is  suspended  an  elastic 
rubber  belt.  The  brush  is  cylindrical,  with  a 
pulley  at  one  end,  and  a  loose  axle  with  a  handle 
at  each  end  running  through  it.  The  X3ulley  is 
slipped  into  the  rubber  belt,  when  the  brush 
begins  rapidly  to  revolve.  It  is  held  by  the  two 
handles,  and  is  moved  rapidly  about  over  the 
customer's  head.  The  sensation  is  delightful, 
and  such  a  thorough  brushing  is  impossible  by 
mere  hand  work. 


GOOD  MORALS.  307 

The  friends  of  temperance  will  be  glad  to  know- 
that  the  use  of  wine  and  beer  on  the  table  is 
greatly  declining  in  England.  From  what  I  have 
observed  and  been  informed,  it  is  now  the  excep- 
tion rather  than  the  rule,  and  in  families,  too, 
where  the  use  of  such  beverages  was  formerly 
habitual. 

I  was  struck,  too,  Vith  the  small  amount  of 
profanity  one  hears  in  that  country  compared 
with  America.  In  all  my  railroad,  omnibus  and 
steamboat  travel,  I  cannot  call  to  mind  a  single 
oath.  I  was  reminded  of  this  from  overhearing 
one  day  a  fierce  quarrel  between  two  hucksters  in 
Covent  Garden  market,  whose  wagons  in  the 
crush  had  become  locked  together.  The  war  of 
words  went  on  for  some  time,  with  the  most 
emphatic  assurances  on  the  part  of  each  that  the 
other  was  to  blame,  and  must  be  at  the  pains  of 
unloading,  but  throughout  all  the  name  of  the 
Deity  was  not  once  mentioned.  I  conclude  that 
the  rank  and  file  of  the  English  are  not  a  swear- 
ing people. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

GENEALOGICAL  RESEARCH-AN  OLD  ENGLISH  CATHEDRAL  TOWN 
—PARISH  RECORDS  OF  TWO  HUNDRED  AND  FIFTY  YEARS  AGO 
—HOW  SURNAMES  BECOME  CHANGED  AND  CORRUPTED— THE 
HERALDS'  OFFICE.  ^ 

Cji  S  there  are  very  many  people  in  this  coun- 
Jfi  try  interested  in  genealogical  studies  and 
^J  ^  research,  the  story  of  my  experience  in  this 
direction  may  be  worth  devoting  a  chapter  to,  as 
affording  a  general  idea  of  the  sources  of  infor- 
mation, the  means  of  gaining  access  to  them  and 
the  character  of  knowledge  to  be  gained.  Being, 
while  in  London,  within  sixty-seven  miles  of  Ely, 
the  birthplace  of  an  ancestor  who  emigrated  to 
America  nearly  one  hundred  years  ago,  I  felt 
some  curiosity  to  see  the  place  and,  if  possible, 
find  out  something  more  of  the  family  origin  and 
ancestry.  A  pleasant  two  hours'  ride  through  a 
level  but  beautiful  country  brought  us  to  the  old 
cathedral  city  of  Ely. 

Like  most  cathedral  cities  it  is  a  sleepy  old 
place.  It  occupies  rising  ground  in  the  midst  of 
a  vast  flat  plain,  known  as  the  Fens,  which  before 
the  days  of  drainage  was  an  almost  impenetrable 
marsh ;   it  is  now,  however,  a  highly  cultivated 


ELY  CATHEDRAL. 

and  fruitful  district.  Ely,  also  called  from  its 
originally  moist  inaccessibility  the  Isle  of  Ely, 
was  the  last  place  in  England  to  hold  out  against 
the  Norman  invader,  William  the  Conqueror. 
The  place  was  founded  as  a  religious  community 
by  the  Saxon  queen  Etheldreda,  a  little  over 
twelve  hundred  years  ago,  the  good  queen  herself 
retiring  from  her  throne  to  become  the  abbess  of 
the  new  establishment.  Soon  after  the  conquest 
the  Norman  ecclesiastics  who  obtained  control  of 
the  property,  began  the  erection  of  the  present 
cathedral,  one  of  the  largest  in  England,  and  now 
nearly  eight  hundred  years  old.  It  was  origin- 
ally a  pure  Norman  structure,  very  massive  and 
imposing.  Early  in  the  fourteenth  century  the 
central  tower  which  had  been  overloaded  with  a 
tall  spire,  fell  with  a  crash  and  destroyed  in  its 
fall  the  choir  or  eastern  end  of  the  structure. 
This  was  then  rebuilt  in  the  Decorated  Gothic 
style  of  the  period,  of  which  it  is  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  specimens  to  be  found.  Where  the 
central  tower  formerly  stood  a  large  octagon  was 
constructed,  with  a  wooden  vaulted  roof  sur- 
mounted by  an  immense  lantern,  the  whole  form- 
ing something  entirely  unique  in  Gothic  archi- 
tecture, aind,  now  that  it  has  been  fully  restored 
and  redecorated,  a  work  of  exceeding  beauty. 
At  a  later  period  chapels  were  added  to  the 
cathedral  in  the  Perpendicular  Gothic  style,  so 


310  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

that  the  building  to-day  illustrates  every  form 
of  architecture  from  the  earliest  Norman  to  the 
latest  Gothic,  which  makes  it  a  peculiarly  inter- 
esting edifice. 

Dean  Merivale,  the  eminent  historian,  is  the 
dean  of  the  cathedral.  I  caught  a  glimpse  of  him 
in  the  cathedral  library  poring  over  the  old 
books,  a  fine,  healthy,  but  intellectual  looking 
old  gentleman.  Services  are  held  in  the  cathe- 
dral at  ten  and  four  o'  clock  every  day,  and  the 
music  is  very  superior. 

The  cathedral  is  surrounded  by  an  extensive 
park  filled  with  beautiful  shade  trees,  and  around 
and  overlooking  the  park  are  the  various  subor- 
dinate buildings  connected  with  the  cathedral,  as 
the  dean's  residence,  the  residences  of  some  of 
the  canons,  the  school  attached  to  the  establish- 
ment, the  muniment  room,  vergers'  residences, 
etc.,  all  very  old  and  picturesque,^and  all  origin- 
ally part  of  the  old  monastic  establishment 
founded  by  Etheldreda. 

Lying  entirely  around  the  cathedral  precincts 
is  the  city — a  clean,  rather  pretty  place  of  eight 
thousand  inhabitants,  with  little  or  no  trade 
beyond  what  the  cathedral  creates.  The  houses 
are  brick,  usually  two  stories  high,  and  mostly 
of  the  poorer  class,  with  many  a  pretty  garden 
and  a  noticeably  rustic  air. 

The  hotel  we  put  up  at  is  called  the  Lamb  Inn. 


AN  ENGLISH  COtlNTRY  INN.  311 

The  entrance  hall  is  paved  with  flag  stones. 
A  genial  landlady  and  a  ponderous  theological 
looking  waiter  receive  us.  We  partake  of  a 
nicely  cooked  dinner  of  mutton  cutlets,  hot  and 
tender,  American  cheese,  bitter  ale,  and  goose- 
berry pie  with  cream—  everything  clean  and  nice. 
For  supper,  or  tea  as  it  is  called,  we  have  tea, 
toast  and  butter,  the  teapot  and  cups  and  saucers 
being  brought  in  on  a  tray  and  set  before  the  lady 
of  the  party  who  presides  at  the  table  just  as  she 
would  at  her  own  house.  The  coffee-room,  in 
which  the  meals  are  served,  is  a  pleasant  home- 
like room,  Brussels  carpet,  curtained  windows 
and  good  engravings  on  the  walls.  The  chambers 
are  of  good  size  but  unpretending,  and  scrupu- 
lously neat  and  clean.  Mine  is  furnished  with 
an  old-fashioned,  carved  mahogany,  four-posted 
bedstead,  hung  with  white  curtains.  There  are 
lace  curtains  on  the  window  and  the  dressing 
table  is  hung  with  a  white  vallance.  A  print  of 
John  the  Baptist  after  Murillo,  the  original  in 
the  Royal  Museum  at  Madrid,  adorns  the  wall, 
and  the  religious  leanings  of  the  country  stand 
out  in  a  card  over  the  mantle-piece,  reading 
"Believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  thou  shalt 
be  saved."  The  English  hotels  contrast  with  the 
American  in  being  less  pretentious  and  more 
home-like,  greater  attention  being  given  to  little 
comforts  and  elegancies.     But  to  ni}^  mission. 


312  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

I  find  there  are  two  parishes  in  Ely,  in  each  of 
which  records  of  christenings,  marriages  and 
burials  have  been  kept  for  over  three  hundred 
years.  The  keeping  of  such  records  was  made 
imperative  by  law  in  Queen  Elizabeth's  reign.  I 
apply  to  the  rectors  of  the  respective  parishes  for 
permission  to  examine  the  registers,  and  rather 
hesitatingly  am  accorded  the  same,  for  the  records 
are  jealously  guarded  and  can  only  be  seen  in  the 
presence  of  the  rector  or  one  of  his  curates.  We 
proceed  to  the  parish  church,  and  enter  the 
gloomy  little  vestry  all  hung  around  with  sur- 
plices and  stoles.  An  old-fashioned  iron  "  strong 
box"  is  opened  and  a  series  of  long,  musty,  parch- 
ment covered  books  is  brought  out.  They  are  of 
different  sizes  and  shapes  and  have  been  kept 
with  varying  degrees  of  neatness,  correctness  and 
legibility,  but  in  all  the  leaves  are  of  parchment, 
the  one  side  yellow  and  greasy,  the  other  white 
and  dry  like  paper.  I  begin  back  about  a  cen- 
tury, and  soon  find  the  record  of  the  burial  of 
Susannah,  the  mother  of  the  first  Scripps  to  settle 
in  the  new  world,  but  the  name  is  spelled  Scrips. 
Then  I  come  to  the  births  of  other  members  of 
the  family,  with  whose  existence  and  dates  I  was 
before  acquainted,  all  still  spelled  with  a  single  p. 
The  baptisms  are  very  numerous,  but  infantile 
deaths  almost  equally  so,  and  I  begin  to  see  how 
it  was  that,  prior  to  the  present  enlightened  cen- 


OLD  PARISH  RECORDS.  313 

tury,  population  in  England  increased  so  slowly. 
Bad  ventilation,  ignorant  medical  treatment 
and  other  causes,  carried  off  in  childhood — I 
might  almost  confine  it  to  babyhood — fully  three- 
fourths  of  all  the  children  brought  into  the  world. 
Prior  tQ  1699  the  handwriting  of  the  registers 
assumes  a  sort  of  text  character,  difficult  at  first 
to  read.  The  letter  c  takes  the  form  of  a  small 
cross  easily  mistaken  for  a  t,  and  a  person  casu- 
ally opening  the  registers  at  this  period  would 
easily  mistake  the  name  Scrips  for  Strips,  Scott 
for  Stott,  etc.  During  the  period  of  the  Common- 
wealth it  was  clear  that  the  family  were  puritans, 
and  no  doubt  approved  the  taking  off  of  Charles 
I.,  for  the  Roundhead  names  Moses  and  Faith 
appeared.  In  1633,  during  the  lifetime  of  two 
generations  of  Thomases,  the  name  suffered  an 
important  transmutation.  Prior  to  that  year  it 
had  been  written  Crips.  How  naturally  it  be- 
came corrupted  to  Scrips,  will  be  seen  by  attempt- 
ing to  repeat  quickly  the  name  Thomas  Crips, 
and  it  was  while  the  principal  head  of  the  family 
bore  the  name  Thomas  that  the  change  in  writing 
the  surname  occurred.  The  change  probably 
occurred  with  the  incoming  of  a  new  rector  or 
clerk,  who  wrote  the  name  from  sound.  It  was 
made  so  abruptly  that  some  infants  who  a  few 
months  before  had  been  baptized  as  Cripses,  were 
buried  just  after  as  Scripses.      The  change,  the 


314  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

result  purely  of  ignorance  or  carelessness,  illus- 
trates the  transmutations  that  have  no  doubt 
taken  place  in  hosts  of  other  surnames. 

The  registers  of  Trinity  parish,  Ely,  were  gen- 
erally well  kept,  and,  considering  their  age,  have 
been  remarkably  well  preserved,  but  back  of  the 
year  1600  the  writing  becomes  small  and  close, 
and  more  difficult  of  deciphering,  and  having 
accomplished  what  I  desired,  viz.,  the  establish- 
ing of  the  origin  of  the  name,  I  there  concluded 
my  researches.  From  other  sources  I  satisfied 
myself  that  the  first  to  spell  his  name  with  two 
p's  was  one  William  Scripps,  about  1757,  who,  by 
the  way,  was  a  builder  and  had  an  important  part 
in  the  reconstruction  of  the  lantern  of  the  cathe- 
dral. 

At  an  early  period  the  abbots,  and  later  the 
bishops  of  Ely,  had  conferred  upon  them  by 
royal  charter  an  autocratic  civil  jurisdiction  over 
the  territory  known  as  the  Isle  of  Ely.  No  other 
law  but  their  mandates  existed,  and  they  exer- 
cised a  sway  as  absolute  even  as  that  of  the  Czar 
of  Eussia.  A  dwelling  house  was  jjointed  out  to 
me,  which  was  formerly  the  jail  in  which  their 
prisoners  were  confined,  and,  as  an  old  gentleman 
of  antiquarian  tastes  who  rendered  me  valuable 
services  in  my  investigations,  remarked,  the  bish- 
ops appointed  both  judges  and  executioners. 
That  they  wielded  their  power  of  life  and  death 


HOW  RIOTERS  WERE  SERVED.  315 

with  a  sturdy  hand  is  apparent  from  a  tablet  on 
the  exterior  wall  of  St.  Mary's  church,  which 
reads  thus : 

Here  lye  Interred  in  one  grave 

the  Bodies  of 

William  Beamiss, 

George  Crow, 

John  Dennis, 

Isaac  Harley 

and 

Thomas  South, 

Who  were  all  executed  at  Ely  on  the  28th  Day  of  June,  1816, 

having  been  convicted  at  the  special  assizes  holden 

there  of  divers  Robberies  during  the  Riots 

at  Ely   and  Littleport  in  the  month 

of  May  in  that  3''ear. 

May  their  awful  fate  be  a  warning  to  others. 

This  civil  power  of  the  Bishop  of  Ely  continued 
down  to  1836,  when  it  was  abolished  by  act  of 
parliament. 

Upon  returning  to  London  I  visited  the  college 
of  Heralds,  a  sort  of  record  office  of  genealogies 
and  coats  of  arms.  It  is  a  quiet,  old-fashioned, 
highly  respectable  office  in  the  heart  of  the  city. 
A  fee  of  five  shillings  is  charged  for  a  search, 
and  an  expert  clerk  then  refers  to  indexes  and 
records  filling  thousands  of  volumes  ranged  on 
shelves  in  an  inner  room.  Here  I  simply  ascertain 
that  the  names  Cripps  and  Crisp  are  identical  in 
their  origin,  that  the  family  was  originally  located 
in  the  south-eastern  counties  of  England,  and 


316  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

that  they  boasted  a  coat  of  arms  as  far  back  as 
1482 — ten  years  before  the  discovery  of  America. 
Thence  I  sought  the  government  Record  office 
in  Fetter  Lane,  vrhich  is  open  free  to  the  public, 
and  where  by  running  over  indexes  I  discovered 
reference  to  a  charter  of  some  kind  granted  to 
one  Roger  Crisp,  by  King  John,  in  1199.  Satis- 
fied with  this  indication  of  antiquity,  I  went  no 
further  with  my  investigations. 


CHAPTEE  XXXII. 

THE  ENGLISH  CATHEDRALS,  THEIR  OFFICERS,  SERVICES  AND 
ARCHITECTURE— THE  RELIGIOUS  CONDITION  OF  ENGLAND— 
THE  HIGH  AND  LOW  CHURCH  CONTROVERSY. 

Ck  CATHEDRAL  is  a  bishop's  chnrch,  and 
rS  there  is  properly,  of  course,  one  cathedral 
^(V  to  each  diocese.  A  cathedral  is  usually 
very  much  larger  than  an  ordinary  parish  church. 
Services  in  the  English  cathedrals  are  held  regu- 
larly twice  every  day  throughout  the  year,  and 
are  invariably  choral,  the  singing  being  done  by 
a  dozen  or  twenty  men  and  boys,  wearing  white 
surplices.  The  prayers  are  intoned,  or  chanted 
on  a  single  note.  Nothing  is  read  but  the  les- 
sons, all  the  rest  of  the  service  being  musically 
rendered.  The  effect  of  an  English  cathedral 
service  is  very  beautiful. 

The  clergyman  at  the  head  of  a  cathedral  estab- 
lishment is  called  a  dean,  and  his  assistants,  usu- 
ally four  in  number,  are  denominated  canons. 
The  director  of  the  music  is  known  as  the  precen- 
tor and  is  always  a  clergyman  in  orders.  The 
burden  of  the  daily  services  devolves  on  two  sub- 
ordinate ministers,  known  as  minor  canons.  The 
dean  of  a  cathedral  is  usually  a  man  of  some  emi- 


318  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

nence  in  literature  or  theology,  the  comfortable 
salary  with  the  comparatively  insignificant  duties, 
rendering  the  position  one  peculiarly  favorable  to 
the  prosecution  of  study  and  research.  Many  of 
the  most  famous  writers  and  scholars  of  recent 
times  have  been  the  deans  of  cathedral  churches, 
as,  for  instance,  Dean  Milman  of  St.  Paul's,  Dean 
Alford  of  Canterbury,  Dean  Stanley  of  West- 
minster, Dean  Trench  of  Dublin,  Dean  Merivale 
of  Ely,  Dean  Howson  of  Chester,  and  many 
others.  The  canons  are  usually  clergymen  of 
eminence  or  professors  in  the  universities,  as 
Canon  Farrar  and  Canon  Liddon,  for  example, 
their  cathedral  duties  requiring  their  attendance 
but  perhaps  a  dozen  times  a  year  each.  Often 
they  are  at  the  same  time  rectors  of  parish 
churches.  The  entire  staff  of  a  cathedral,  includ- 
ing the  chorister  boys  and  vergers  or  sextons, 
usually  numbers  twenty-five  or  thirty  persons  or 
more.  These  are  all  paid  from  the  endowments 
of  the  church,  which  are  usually  quite  ample. 

Most  of  the  cathedra]  churches  of  England  were 
formerly  abbey  churches,  but  they  are  by  no 
means  an  indication  of  the  number  of  abbeys  that 
existed  before  the  reformatio^.  Yery  many  of 
these  abbeys  are  now  mere  ruins  and  many  more 
are  preserved  as  parish  churches.  An  abbey  in 
mediaeval  times  was  a  community  of  monks  iden- 
tical with  what  we  now  denominate  a  monastery. 


THE  PLAN  OF  A  CATHEDRAL.  319 

Its  chief  officer  was  an  abbot.  The  abbeys  of 
England  prior  to  the  sixteenth  century  became 
very  rich  and  much  of  their  wealth  was  devoted 
to  the  erection  of  large  and  beautiful  churches  in 
connection  with  their  establishments,  ^o  where 
was  more  beautiful  and  interesting  architecture 
developed  than  by  these  English  abbey  monks. 

Their  churches  were  invariably  cruciform  or 
cross-shaped,  the  head  of  the  cross  always  point- 
ing to  the  east  and  the  long  arm  consequently  to 
the  west.  The  transverse  members  pointing 
respectively  to  the  north  and  south  are  known 
resx)ectively  as  the  north  and  south  transepts. 
The  principal  front  or  fagade  is  always  at  the 
west  end,  and  the  portion  of  the  building  west  of 
the  transepts  is  called  the  nave.  That  portion 
east  of  the  transepts  is  the  choir  and  corresponds 
to  the  chancel  of  a  parish  church.  On  either  side 
of  the  nave,  transepts  and  choir  are  aisles,  usu- 
ally of  a  lesser  height.  Under  the  choir  there  is 
often  a  cellar  or  basement  called  the  crypt  and 
which  is  often  fitted  up  for  worship.  The  build- 
ings are  invariably  of  stone,  and  usually  a  stone 
vaulting,  relieved  by  stone  ribs  or  groins,  forms 
the  ceiling.  In  Cologne  Cathedral  this  vaulting 
is  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  above  the  pavement, 
but  in  the  English  cathedrals  from  sixty  to  one 
hundred  feet  is  the  usual  height.  The  space 
from  one  column  to  another  is  called  a  bay. 


320  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

In  the  angle  formed  by  tlie  nave  and  one  of  tlie 
transepts  are  usually  situated  the  Cloisters.  The 
cloisters  of  an  abbey  or  cathedral  are  a  covered 
vralk  surrounding  an  open  square,  and  were  in 
the  olden  time  the  place  of  exercise  and  recrea- 
tion of  the  monlvs.  They  form  a  quadrangle  per- 
haps two  or  three  hundred  feet  square.  The 
open  space  in  the  center  forms  either  a  garden  or 
lawn,  or  is  used  for  burial  purposes.  The  covered 
ambulatory  or  arcade  is  perhaps  twelve  or  fifteen 
feet  wide  and  about  the  same  in  height.  It  is 
paved  with  stone  and  has  stone  vaultings  overhead. 
On  one  side  is  a  blank  wall,  often  used  for  memorial 
tablets,  and  stone  benches  ;  on  the  other  an  open 
arcade  or  range  of  windows  with  mullions  but  no 
glass.  Sometimes  the  cloisters  also  contain  stone 
writing  desks,  at  which  the  monks  could  sit  to 
write  their  letters.  The  cloisters  are  always  quiet, 
secluded  places,  and  pleasant  resorts  for  study  and 
reflection. 

In  the  angle  formed  by  the  choir  and  one  of 
the  transepts  usually  stands  the  Chapter  House. 
This  was  originally  the  hall  in  which  the  monks 
gathered  for  the  transaction  of  the  business  of 
their  abbey.  It  is  generally  round  or  polygonal 
in  form,  with  a  column  in  the  center  to  support 
the  stone  vaulted  ceiling,  and  with  stone  seats  all 
around  the  sides.  The  chapter  houses  are  often 
very    beautiful    pieces    of    architectural    work. 


CATHEDRAL  ARCHITECTURE.  321 

Prominent  among  the  otlier  monastic  buildings 
is  the  Refectory  or  dining  room  of  the  monks. 
This  is  usually  a  large  rectangular  hall  with  tim- 
ber roof.  On  one  side  is  a  niche  in  the  wall, 
forming  a  sort  of  stone  pulpit,  in  which  it  used  to 
be  the  practice  for  one  of  the  brothers  to  read 
aloud  from  the  Lives  of  the  Saints,  or  some  other 
holy  book,  while  the  rest  in  silence  ate  their  meals. 
Another  principal  hall  is  the  Hospitium  or  guest 
chamber,  in  which  visitors  to  the  abbey  were 
lodged. 

Most  cathedrals  have  an  extension  of  the  choir 
eastward,  known  as  the  Lady  Chapel,  from  its 
being  dedicated  to  the  Virgin  Mary. 

The  earliest  existing  churches  were  built  in  the 
eleventh  century,  and  in  the  style  known  as 
Norman.  They  are  very  massive,  but  generally 
of  rude  workmanship.  The  predominating  fea- 
tures of  the  Norman  style  are  round  columns 
with  very  simple  capitals,  semi-circular  arches, 
and  zigzag  mouldings.  Yery  few  of  the  Norman 
churches  have  vaulted  ceilings,  the  skill  of  the 
period  being  hardly  equal  to  their  execution. 
Perhaps  in  a  majority  of  the  old  churches  and 
cathedrals  of  England  more  or  less  Norman  work 
is  found.  Durham  Cathedral  presents  one  of  the 
best  specimens  of  Norman  work. 

About  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century  the 
Norman  gave  way  to  the  Early  English  Gothic, 

21 


322  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

a  simple,  and  even  to  this  day  a  very  beautiful 
style.  In  tliis  the  windows  and  arches  are  nar- 
row and  sharply  pointed.  The  windows  are  with- 
out tracery,  and  there  is  very  little  ornamental 
stone  work  in  the  way  of  sculptured  foliage  or 
figures.  The  columns  of  this  period  are  clus- 
tered— usually  a  large  round  pillar  of  common 
stone  in  the  center,  encircled  by  four  or  more 
smaller  shafts  of  polished  brown  marble.  Very 
often  a  church  is  seen,  begun  in  the  Norman  style 
and  finished  in  the  Early  English,  the  transition 
from  one  style  to  the  other  taking  place  during 
the  progress  of  erection.  The  Early  English  is 
as  light  and  graceful  as  the  JN'orman  is  heavy 
and  uncouth.  Salisbury,  Lincoln  and  Worcester 
cathedrals  are  good  illustrations. 

A  century  later  English  church  architecture 
developed  into  what  is  known  as  the  Decorated 
period.  In  this  the  windows  are  much  enlarged, 
and  are  filled  with  elaborate  tracery  of  stone 
work,  and  the  capitals  of  the  columns,  the  brackets 
and  the  bosses  are  richly  sculptured.  The  severe 
plainness  of  the  Early  English  is  lost,  but  the 
ornamentation  is  not  carried  to  excess  as  it  was 
at  a  still  later  period.  This  is  regarded  as  the 
golden  age  of  Gothic  architecture  and  many 
beautiful  specimens  are  found,  notably  in  the 
choirs  of  Ely  and  Lincoln  cathedrals. 

Still  later  the  rage  for  ornament  so  overloaded 


GOTHIC  ARCniTECTUPwE.  323 

the  cliurclies  that  the  more  graceful  forms  of  the 
earlier  period  were  lost  in  excess  of  decoration. 
The  arches  became  wider  and  flatter,  the  columns 
degenerated  into  piers,  with  the  mouldings  of 
the  arches  simply  continued  to  the  floor,  and 
the  vaulted  ceilings  were  made  to  hang  all  over 
with  stalactite-like  pendants  of  stone.  This  is 
known  as  the  Perpendicular  period,  and  of  all  it 
is  most  open  to  criticism,  though  displaying  won- 
derful skill  in  construction.  The  best  specimen 
of  this  age  is  Henry  YII.'s  chapel  connected  with 
Westminster  Abbey. 

Within  the  past  thirty  or  forty  years  there  has 
been  a  great  rage  in  England  for  restoring  the  old 
cathedrals,  most  of  which  had  become  almost 
ruinous  with  age  and  decay.  Sir  Gilbert  Scott 
was  of  all  the  architects  most  prominent  in  this 
work.  The  weather-worn  stones  are  removed  and 
others  substituted  for  them,  and  where,  by  the 
vandalism  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  cen- 
turies, rich  ornamental  work  has  been  destroyed 
or  incongruous  repairs  or  alterations  been  made, 
the  whole  is  put  back  to  the  condition  of  its  high- 
est perfection.  The  old  cathedrals  are  thus  all 
made  to  look  like  new  churches  and  have  been 
made  very  beautiful  and  artistic,  though  deprived 
of  the  charm  of  antiquity  they  formerly  possessed. 

England  is  essentially  a  religious  country,  as  is 
evidenced  by  the  quiet,    orderly  sabbaths,  the 


324  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

crowded  clinrches,  the  deep  interest  that  every- 
one seems  to  take  in  church  matters,  the  orderly 
and  attentive  crowds  that  gather  aronnd  the 
street  preachers,  the  earnest  zeal  of  the  Salvation 
Army  followers,  the  bibles  and  religions  books 
that  are  so  numerously  found  in  the  hotels  and 
railway  stations,  the  demand  for  religious  tracts 
that  makes  their  hawking  on  the  public  streets  a 
possibility,  and,  generally,  by  the  respect  that  in 
all  quarters  is  shown  to  sacred  things.  The  reli- 
gious energy  of  the  country  is  found  at  least  in 
full  share  in  the  established  church.  This  is, 
perhaps,  the  more  remarkable,  as  the  church  of 
England  suffers  from  bitter  internal  dissension, 
though  it  may  still  be  possible  that  its  apparent 
vitality  is  in  some  sort  a  result  of  the  earnest 
rivalry  between  the  contending  high  and  low 
church  factions.  The  dissension,  which  began 
nearly  half  a  century  ago,  is  still  far  from  its  cul- 
mination. The  high  church  party  is  a  party  of 
reaction.  It  deems  that  at  the  Reformation  the 
work  of  reform  was  overdone,  and  that  a  great 
deal  that  was  harmless  and  even  good  in  the  old 
Catholic  church  was  done  away  by  the  excessive 
zeal  of  the  times,  just  as  the  beautiful  architec- 
ture of  the  churches  was  ruthlessly  marred  and 
defaced.  With  the  restoration  of  the  churches 
came  the  desire  to  restore  also  all  that  was  good 
and  beautiful  in  the  ancient  worship.     A  more 


HIGH  AND  LOW  CnURCH.  325 

decorous  respect  for  the  churcli  as  a  sacred  place 
began  to  be  inculcated,  the  beautiful  harmonies 
of  a  choral  service  were  revived,  and  by  various 
little  rites  and  observances  it  was  sought  to 
impress  the  religious  sensibilities.  All  this  the 
low  church  party  have  strongly  condemned,  as 
tending  to  an  ultimate  return  to  the  bosom  of  the 
Homan  church. 

The  low  church  is  radically  protestant,  and  will 
ally  itself  with  dissenters  far  sooner  than  with 
the  faction  of  the  church  of  England  that  it 
regards  as  little  better  than  renegade  and  apos- 
tate. Of  course  there  are  all  grades  of  sentiment 
and  feeling  in  both  parties,  from  the  broad 
churchman,  who  will  concede  liberally,  even  in 
points  of  doctrine,  to  preserve  the  unity  of  the 
church,  up  to  the  extremist  who  will  prefer  its 
disruption  by  far,  to  a  church  in  which  his  views 
are  not  in  the  ascendant.  All  seem  to  feel  that 
the  struggle  must  some  day  be  brought  to  a  final 
issue,  and  the  most  prodigious  exertions  are  being 
put  forth  on  each  side  to  create  for  that  day  a 
preponderance  of  strength  and  influence  that  shall 
decide  it  in  its  own  favor.  And  hence  it  comes 
about  that  an  amount  of  missionary  work  is  being 
done  in  England  such  as  probably  was  never 
before  known.  The  high  church  party  fills  up  its 
churches  by  the  most  beautiful  and  impressive 
musical  service  that  perhaps  the  world  has  ever 


326  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

known,  while,  it  fiirnislies  employment  for  the 
more  active  minds  in  the  duties  and  self-sacri- 
fices, the  faithful  observance  of  which  it  earnestly 
teaches.  That  it  reaches  a  very  large  number 
who  could  not  be  reached  by  mere  intellectual 
argument  is  certain,  and  I  cannot  doubt  that  a 
good  work  is  being  done,  for  I  hold  that  it  is  bet- 
ter far  for  one  to  cross  himself  before  partaking 
of  a  meal,  as  is  now  common  with  the  extreme 
section  of  the  high  church  party,  than  to  have  no 
thought  at  all  of  the  Giver  of  all  Good  in  connec- 
tion therewith. 

Meanwhile  the  pulpits  of  the  low  church  are 
being  filled  with  intellectually  strong  and  earnest 
evangelical  men,  who  by  their  preaching  powers 
draw  large  audiences,  and  who  doubtless  by  their 
intelligent  presentation  of  religious  truths  exert 
a  great  influence  with  the  more  thoughtful  minds. 
Of  course  all  the  good  preaching  is  not  on  the  low 
church  side,  but  practically  that  wing  leans  most 
heavily  on  the  pulpit,  as  the  other  side  does  on 
the  choir  stalls.  As  there  is  nothing  seriously 
objectionable  in  a  musical  service,  it  is  not  uncom- 
mon for  the  low  church  advocates  to  steal  the 
thunder  of  their  opponents  by  themselves  employ- 
ing more  or  less  fully  the  choral  service.  In  one 
church  of  well  recognized  evangelical  standing, 
St.  Martin's,  Birmingham,  a  surpliced  choir  leads 
the    devotions.      The  rector,  Dr.  Wilkinson,  re- 


CHORAL  SEmaCES.  327 

frains  from  intoning  the  prayers,  but  the  respon- 
ses are  in  full  choral  style.  The  sermons  are  such 
as  would  thoroughly  please  a  Presbyterian  or 
Methodist  hearer.  At  some  other  churches  the 
musical  innovation  is  confined  to  the  chanting  of 
the  psalter,  which  was  always  formerly  read 
responsively,  as  in  this  country.  The  amount  of 
music  in  the  service  is  hence  in  itself  no  criterion 
of  the  position  of  the  church  on  the  great  ques- 
tion under  agitation.  The  eastward  position 
assumed  in  reciting  the  Apostle's  Creed  is  the 
first  distinguishing  indication  of  ritualistic  lean- 
ings. Where  such  eastward  position  is  not 
assumed  it  may  be  taken  for  granted  that  the 
church  is  evangelically  inclined,  even  though  the 
whole  service  be  musical. 

There  is  nothing  so  beautiful  as  a  well-conduct- 
ed cathedral  service  in  the  Church  of  England. 
No  Roman  Catholic  services  that  it  has  been  my 
fortune  to  hear  have  possessed  half  the  simple 
beauty  of  the  English  service,  musically  rendered. 

It  seems  strange  that,  while  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  church  of  the  United  States  is  essen- 
tially more  high  church  in  its  views  and  practices 
than  even  the  conservative  element  in  the  church 
of  England,  the  choral  service,  which  is  not  incon- 
sistent with  English  evangelicism,  should  be  so 
utterly  neglected  here. 

It  only  remains  to  add  that  the  Queen,  who  by 


328         FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

tlie  constitution  is  the  head  of  the  church,  is  very 
properly  a  broad  church  woman,  sympathizing 
with  neither  extreme.  It  is  true  some  pretend  to 
believe  that  her  majesty  was  more  or  less  impreg- 
nated with  the  German  rationalistic  views  of  her 
husband,  the  late  Prince  Albert,  and  that  hence 
arises  her  indifference.  But  in  this  they  prob- 
ably misrepresent  her.  Her  children  make  no 
disguise  of  their  ritualistic  preferences,  and  the 
Prince  and  Princess  of  Wales  are  frequent 
attendants  at  All  Saints,  Margaret  street,  one  of 
the  leading  ritualistic  churches  of  London. 

While  position  on  church  affairs  is  in  no  wise 
conterminous  with  party  politics,  Mr.  Gladstone 
is  the  hete  noir  of  the  low  church  radicals.  A 
Romanist  in  disguise,  bent  on  the  subversion  of 
the  Church  of  England,  is  what  they  delight  to 
call  him,  on  account  of  the  many  concessions  he 
has  made  in  the  direction  of  religious  toleration. 
Meanwhile  the  high  churchmen  are  equally  dis- 
satisfied with  the  amount  of  interference  with 
church  matters  that  a  secular  parliament  has 
indulged  in,  and  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  they 
would  welcome  disestablishment  as  a  relief  from 
such  control. 

Church  rates,  or  the  tax  for  the  support  of  the 
church,  having  been  abolished  a  few  years  since, 
the  town  churches  are  now  dependent  on  the  pew 
rents  for  their  maintenance.      In  the  rural  dis- 


CHURCH  VESTRIES.  329 

tricts,  however,  the  tithing  system  is  still  con- 
tinued, by  which  the  vicar  may  claim  and  recover 
by  process  of  law  a  certain  proportion,  assumed 
to  be  a  tenth,  of  the  produce  of  all  agricultural 
lands  in  his  parish,  and  on  these  tithes  the  coun- 
try ]3arson  grows  fat  in  the  midst  of  his  handful 
of  parishioners,  while  his  metropolitan  brother 
has  to  depend  on  his  popularity  alone  for  a  decent 
maintenance. 

The  immediate  management  of  the  affairs  of 
each  parish  devolves  on  the  vestry.  In  the  newer 
parishes,  in  which  the  vestry  has  no  civil  powers, 
that  body  is  usually  elected  by  the  pew  holders. 
In  the  old  parishes,  which,  as  the  reader  is  aware, 
are  civil  subdivisions,  the  vestry  has  all  the  pow- 
ers that  a  town  meeting  enjoys  in  this  country. 
It  manages  the  poor,  the  street  paving  and  clean- 
ing, the  levying  and  collecting  of  taxes,  etc.  The 
mode  of  election  of  vestrymen  in  this  case  is  not 
uniform,  but  one  common  method  is  for  the  ves- 
try to  elect  each  year  a  church  warden  inside  or 
outside  their  own  number,  the  vestry  itself  being 
composed  of  all  the  surviving  ex-wardens,  who 
may  still  be  residents  of  the  parish.  It  will  be 
seen  how  great  power  is  thus  lodged  in  what  is 
practically  a  close  corporation,  but  such  is  the 
general  sense  of  responsibility  of  Englishmen  in 
public  life,  that  it  is  rare  that  there  is  any  abuse 
of  the  powers  enjoyed. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

THE  SUMMER  ASPECT   OF    ENGLAND  — WINDSOR    CASTLE— THE 
ALBERT   MEMORIAL   CHAPEL  — BATH   AND   ITS   ABBEY. 

E  leave  London  via  the  Great  Western 
Railway,  one  of  the  pioneer  lines  of  the 
country,  and  the  broadest  gauge  (seven 
feet)  ever  constructed  in  any  country.  The  main 
line  extends  from  London  to  Bristol,  one  hundred 
and  twenty  miles,  and  the  express  trains  make 
the  distance  in  two  hours  and  thirty-six  minutes, 
including  a  stoppage  of  ten  minutes  at  Swindon 
for  refreshments — a  speed  equal  to  fifty  miles  an 
hour. 

A  ride  through  England  in  June  or  July  is 
most  enchanting.  The  country  is  generally  more 
rolling  than  ours,  and  in  cultivated  portions  there 
are  twenty  trees  where  there  is  one  in  our  coun- 
try. The  effect  is  to  add  greatly  to  the  beauty  of 
the  scenery.  Trees  line  every  roadway  and  every 
field,  and  are  often  scattered  promiscuously 
through  the  fields.  No  doubt  much  land  is 
wasted  by  their  shade,  but  it  is  a  question  if  this 
be  not  more  than  made  up  by  the  modification 
they  effect  in  the  climate,  and  the  increased  fruit- 
fulness  of  the  remaining  portions  of  the  land. 


WINDSOR  CASTLE.  331 

Our  American  fanners  should  cultivate  more  trees  ^ 
on  their  farms.  A  thousand  years'  experience 
has  taught  England  that  it  pays.  Besides  the 
beautiful  foliage,  the  country  is  full  of  pictu- 
resque old  farm-houses  with  thatched  roofs,  with 
here  and  there  the  square  tower  of  an  old  church 
peeping  up  through  the  trees.  The  little,  narrow, 
winding  country  roads,  so  charmingly  shaded, 
are  also  exceedingly  pretty.  We  waste  too  much 
land  in  our  American  country  roads.  In  England 
twenty -five  or  thirty  feet  suffices,  and  they  have 
splendid  roads,  too. 

Twenty  miles  from  London  we  reach  Windsor 
Castle,  the  principal  residence  of  the  Queen.  It 
was  built  by  Edward  III.  about  the  middle  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  and  thoroughly  restored  by 
George  IV.  in  the  early  part  of  the  present  cen- 
tury. It  is  situated  on  a  considerable  eminence 
on  the  south  bank  of  the  Thames,  and  is  sur- 
rounded by  a  park  seven  miles  across  and  twenty- 
five  in  circuit.  The  royal  forest  of  Windsor 
adjoins  the  park,  and  the  entire  royal  domain  is 
fifty-six  miles  in  circumference.  The  castle  itself, 
the  largest  in  England,  covers  seventeen  acres. 
In  the  center  rises  the  ''keep,"  or  great  round 
tower,  so  familiar  in  all  pictures  of  Windsor. 
The  Queen's  private  apartments  are  confined  to 
one  tower  situated  at  the  southeastern  corner  of 
the  castle,  and  commanding  a  most  beautiful  view 


332  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

of  the  park  and  surrounding  country.  Adjoining 
the  private  apartments  of  Her  Majesty  are  the 
state  apartments. 

As  we  enter  the  castle  we  first  pass  through  a 
large,  irregular  shaped  court-yard,  with  the  royal 
chapel  of  St.  George  on  one  side^  barracks  for  the 
soldiers  and  houses  for  the  castle  attendants  on 
the  other,  and  the  great  round  tower  at  the 
farther  end.  Beyond  this  is  a  second  court-yard 
on  the  crest  of  the  hill,  surrounded  by  the  private 
and  state  aj^artments  above  mentioned.  When 
the  Queen  is  not  at  Windsor  all  the  principal 
buildings  are  thrown  open  to  the  public.  We 
first  ascend  to  the  summit  of  the  round  tower, 
from  which,  in  clear  weather,  the  dome  of  St. 
Paul's  and  the  clock  tower  of  Westminster  palace 
are  distinctly  visible,  the  tower  commanding  a 
view  of  about  twenty-five  miles  in  every  direction. 
To  the  south  we  look  up  the  Long  Walk,  a  car- 
riage drive  of  three  miles  leading  directly  away 
from  the  castle  through  the  park,  with  a  bronze 
statue  of  George  III.  at  its  farther  extremity. 
To  the  west  is  Clewer,  the  principal  seat  of  an 
important  Protestant  sisterhood  resembling  the 
Catholic  Sisters  of  Mercy  of  our  own  country. 
Here  is  a  church  said  to  be  twelve  hundred  years 
old,  and  the  oldest  but  one  in  England.  The 
churchyard  where  Gray's  Elegy  was  written,  and 
the  home  of  William  Penn,  are  also  objects  of 


ST.  GEORGE'S  CHAPEL.  333 

interest  witliin  tlie  range  of  vision.  Just  under 
the  castle,  to  the  north,  lies  Eton,  with  its  famous 
college.  The  whole  scene  on  a  fine  day  is  very 
beautiful. 

St.  George's  Chapel,  the  chapel  of  the  castle,  is 
a  large  cruciform  structure,  almost  worthy  of 
being  a  cathedral.  It  is  built  in  the  late  or  Tudor 
Gothic  style,  with  a  beautiful  stone  vaulting 
ornamented  with  what  is  known  as  fan  tracery. 
The  nave  contains  a  number  of  tombs,  and  an 
elaborate  monument  by  the  sculptor  Chantrey  to 
the  memory  of  the  popular  Princess  Charlotte, 
daughter  of  George  TV.  Daily  services  are  held 
in  the  chapel,  just  as  in  a  cathedral.  Adjoining 
St.  George's  Chapel  on  the  east  is  a  smaller 
Gothic  chapel,  long  known  as  Wolsey's  Chapel. 
In  the  crypt  under  it  the  royal  family  for  several 
generations  past  have  been  buried,  instead  of  in 
Westminster  Abbey.  Within  a  few  years  the 
Queen  has  taken  in  hand  the  restoration  and 
adornment  of  this  chapel,  as  a  memorial  to  her 
deceased  husband.  Prince  Albert,  and  has 
changed  the  name  to  the  Albert  Memorial  Chapel. ' 
It  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  beautiful  buildings 
I  saw  in  all  my  travels.  The  stone  ceiling  is  rich 
with  gilding  and  mosaic,  the  floor  of  inlaid  mar- 
bles is  polished  like  a  mirror,  the  windows  are 
filled  with  the  richest  stained  glass,  and  the  walls 
are   covered  with    etchings   in   marble,   reliefs, 


834  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

medallions,  mosaics  and  busts  in  elegant  profu- 
sion. The  large  etched  pictures  are  unique. 
Various  light  shades  of  marble  are  used  for  a 
groundwork,  something  after  the  manner  of  Flor- 
entine mosaics,  and  the  pictures  are  then  brought 
out  strongly  by  black  lines  indelibly  burned  into 
the  substance  of  the  marble,  after  which  the 
whole  is  highly  polished.  By  this  means  both 
drawing  and  shading  are  very  perfect,  and  the 
effect  is  novel  and  pleasing.  At  the  upper  end  of 
the  chapel  stands  an  elaborate  monument  to  the 
Prince  Consort,  though  his  remains  are  really 
interred  at  Frogmore,  a  locality  in  the  royal 
park,  a  short  distance  outside  the  castle. 

We  continue  our  journey,  and  one  hundred  and 
eight  miles  west  of  London,  we  reach  the  city  of 
Bath,  a  place  of  about  fifty- two  thousand  inhab- 
itants, beautifully  situated  on  the  hills  skirting 
the  river  Avon.  For  nearly  two  thousand  years 
Bath  has  been  famous  for  its  mineral  springs  and 
the  high  curative  powers  of  its.  waters.  In  the 
last  century  it  was  to  England  what  Saratoga  is 
to  the  United  States,  the  center  of  gaiety  and 
fashion.  But  other  places  have  more  or  less 
usurped,  or  at  least  divided  its  popularity,  and 
Bath  to-day  looks  regretfully  back  on  the  good, 
old  times  of  the  past.  It  presents  still  rather  an 
aristocratic  air,  from  all  the  buildings  being  of 
dressed  stone.     In  the  center  of  the  town  is  the 


BATH  ABBEY.  335 

Pump  Room,  a  large  and  stately  hall  where  peo- 
ple gather  to  lounge  away  the  time  and  drink  the 
waters.  Just  behind  the  Pump  Room  is  the 
Abbey  church,  to  the  stranger  the  chief  object  of 
interest  in  the  place.  The  abbey  was  built  some 
three  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  and  was  fin- 
ished just  in  time  to  be  made  a  protestant  church 
by  the  Reformation.  It  is  a  fine  structure  of  the 
Tudor  style  with  ceiling  of  fan  tracery  all  in 
stone.  Its  west  front  is  curiously  ornamented. 
On  either  side  of  the  main  doorway  are  carved  in 
the  stone  walls  two  ladders  extending  quite  to  the 
roof,  with  angels  climbing  their  rounds,  the  whole 
being  intended  to  represent  Jacob's  dream  at 
Bethel.  Probably  nowhere  else  is  there  so  large 
a  church  so  filled  with  memorial  tablets.  The 
walls  up  to  the  level  of  the  windows  are  com- 
pletely covered  with  them.  The  reason  probably 
is,  that  Bath  being  a  resort  for  invalids  of  the 
wealthier  and  more  aristocratic  class,  a  great 
many  people  of .  social  position  have  died  and 
been  buried  there.  Judging  from  the  inscrip- 
tions, no  other  place  can  boast  such  a  lot  of 
truly  good  people  as  have  made  it  a  point  to  die 
in  Bath.  Some  of  the  tablets  date  back  to  the 
beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  many 
are  very  quaint  in  their  expression.  One  speaks 
of  the  deceased  in  large  cai^itals  as  ''An  excellent 
person."      Another,  dated  1698,  has  a  stanza  of 


336  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

poetry  appended,  "  By  Mr.  Dry  den."  The  spell- 
ing also  is  very  eccentric,  as  "sonn"  for  son, 
"citty"  for  city,  etc.  Among  the  vast  number 
of  tablets,  I  stumbled  upon  that  of  the  famous 
Beau  Nash,  the  accomplished  gentleman  whose 
life  business  it  was  to  lead  the  fashion  at  Bath, 
and  who  supported  himself  in  luxury  through  a 
long  career  by  his  graceful  manners  alone.  His 
epitaph  reads: 

Adeste  O  Gives,  adeste  lugentes 

Hie  silent  leges 

RICARDI  NASH,  armig : 

Nihil  amplius  imperantis 

Qui  diu  utilissime 

Assumptus  Bathoniae 

Elegantise  arbiter 

Eheu  ! 

Morti  (ultimo  designatori) 

Haud  indecore  succubuit 

Ann  Dom  1761.     ^t  suae  87. 

Beatus  ille  qui  sibi  imperiosus. 

If  social  virtues  make  remembrance  dear. 

Or  manners  pure  on  decent  rule  depend. 
To  his  remains  consign  one  grateful  tear, 

Of  youth  the  guardian  and  of  All  the  friend, 
Now  sleeps  Dominion  here,  no  Bounty  flows. 

Nor  more  avails  the  festive  scene  to  grace: 
Beneath  that  hand  which  no  discernment  shows, 

Untaught  to  honor  or  distinguish  grace. — H.  H. 

But  very  much  more  interesting  is  the  monu- 
ment to  MalthuSj  the  political  economist  whose 


MALTHUS.  337 

advanced  ideas  of  social  science  so  shocked  tlie 
good    people  of    England  half    a  century    ago. 

It  reads  thus : 

Sacred  to  the  memory 

Of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Robert  Malthus,  long  known  to  the  lettered 

world  by  his  admirable  writings  on  the  social  branches 

of  political  economy,  particularly  by  his 

Essay  on  Population. 

One  of  the  best  men  and  truest  philosophers  of  any  age  or  country. 

Raised  by  native  dignity  of  mind  above  the  misrepresentations 

of  the  ignorant  and  the  neglect  of  the  great 
He  lived  a  serene  and  happy  life,   devoted  to  the  pursuit  and 

communication  of  truth. 
Supported  by  a  firm  but  calm  conviction  of  the  usefulness  of 
his  labors. 
Content  with  the  approbation  of  the  wise  and  good. 
His  writings  will  be  a  lasting  monument  of  the  extent  and  cor- 
rectness of  his  understanding. 
The  spotless  integrity  of  his  principles, 
The  equity  and  candour  of  his  nature, 
His  sweetness  of  temper,  urbanity  of  manners  and  tenderness 
of  heart, 
His  benevolence  and  his  piety, 
.   Are  the  still  dearer  recollections  of  his  family  and  friends. 
Born  Feb.  14,  1766.  Died  29  Dec,  1834. 

In  another  place  is  this  tablet  to  an  American : 

Sacred 

To  the  Honorable  William  Bingham,  a  native  and  senator  of  the 

United  States  of  America,  where  his  knowledge  of  the 

interests  of  his  country  and  his  zeal  for  their 

advancement,  the  marks  of  patriotism   ' 

equally  active  and  enlightened, 

will  be  long  and  gratefully 

remembered. 

He  died  in  this  place  on  the  7tU  of  Feb.,  1804,  aged  49  years. 

22 


338  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD.       . 

Bath  has  a  very  pleasant  park  opened  by  the 
Princess  Victoria  before  she  became  queen,  and 
which  is  ornamented  with  a  statue  of  her. 

Lovers  of  Pickwick  will  recall  Mr.  Sam  Wel- 
ler's  experiences  at  this  celebrated  place,  and 
particularly  his  invitation  to  join  the  '^  select  foot- 
men of  Bath"  in  partaking  of  a  "friendly  swarry 
consisting  of  a  boiled  leg  of  mutton,"  and  how 
ignominiously  the  entertainment  wound  up. 


CHAPTER  XXXIY. 

> 

A  TWO  DAYS'  RAMBLE  IN  THE  SOUTH  OF  ENGLAND- EXETER- 
TORQUAY  —  HONITON  —  WINCHESTER  —  SALISBURY  -  STONE- 
HENGE. 

NE  of  the  most  delightful  experiences  of  my 
whole  trip  was  a  two  days'  ramble  in  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  and  interesting  portions 
of  England,  viz.,  its  southern  tier  of  counties. 
Let  the  reader  glance  at  a  map  of  England.  The 
long  peninsula  which  forms  its  southwestern  cor- 
ner constitutes  the  county  of  Cornwall.  East  of 
Cornwall,  and  extending  from  the  English  Chan- 
nel on  the  south  to  the  Bristol  Channel  on  the 
north,  lies  Devonshire.  East  of  Devon,  and  lying 
along  the  southern  shore  of  the  island,  comes 
Dorsetshire  ;  and  north  of  Dorsetshire,  Wiltshire, 
of  which  Salisbury  is  the  capital.  Still  east  of 
Dorset  and  Wilts,  as  they  are  popularly  called, 
lies  Hampshire. 

Our  journey  was  first  to  Exeter,  the  capital  of 
Devon,  and  the  principal  scene  of  Judge  Jeffreys' 
atrocious  cruelties  in  the  reign  of  James  II.,  when 
he  sent  so  many  to  the  gallows  without  law  or 
justice  that  his  holdings  of  court  are  known  as 
the  Bloody  Assizes.     Exeter  is  now  a  quiet  place 


340  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

of  about  forty  thousand  inhabitants,  and  is 
famous  chiefly  for  its  cathedral,  though  its  loca- 
tion on  the  little  river  Exe,  with  a  prospect  of 
green  hills  in  every  direction,  is  exceedingly  beau- 
tiful. The  oldest  portions  of  the  cathedral  date 
from  the  twelfth  century,  and  are  of  Norman 
architecture.  About  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth 
century  the  church  began  to  be  rebuilt  in  the 
Gothic  style,  and  the  two  great  Norman  towers 
were  utilized  as  transepts — the  only  example  in 
England,  I  believe,  where  the  towers  are  so  placed. 
The  cathedral  is  not  a  large  one,  being  only  three 
hundred  and  eighty-seven  feet  long,  but  it  is  an 
imposing  old  structure,  and  quite  worth  a  visit. 
It  was  concerning  the  reredos  or  altar-piece  of 
this  church,  some  years  ago,  that  a  memorable 
litigation  arose — one  of  the  first  appeals  to  law  in 
the  famous  dissensions  between  the  high  and  low 
church  parties. 

A  short  ride  from  Exeter  brings  us  to  Torquay, 
a  famous  watering  place  and  health  resort  on  the 
English  Channel  coast.  The  town  lies  on  the 
side  of  a  rocky,  hill,  and  commands  from  every 
part  a  beautiful  sea  view.  Just  across  the  bay 
(Torbay)  is  the  village  of  Brixham,  where  William 
of  Orange  landed  in  1688,  when  he  came  over 
from  Holland  to  pick  up  the  crown  which  his 
father-in-law,  James  II.,  had  run  off  and  aban- 
doned, the  epoch  being  known  as  the  English 


'  DEVONSHIRE.  341 

Eevolution.  A  little  farther  up  the  bay,  and 
distinctly  visible  from  Torquay,  is  the  glittering 
dome  of  the  magnificent  residence  that  Isaac  M. 
Singer  built  for  himself  when  he  had  acquired  his 
immense  fortune  in  the  manufacture  and  sale  of 
his  sewing  machines.  It  was  here  that  he  died  a 
few  years  ago. 

We  stop  for  the  night  at  a  clean  and  cozy 
little  inn  at  Exeter,  and  bright  and  early  next 
morning  are  up  and  on  our  way  to  Winchester, 
one  hundred  and  eighteen  miles  distant.  Win- 
chester is  the  county  seat,  or  capital,  as  they  call 
it,  of  the  county  of  Hampshire,  from  which  our 
State  of  New  Hampshire  takes  its  name.  To 
reach  it  we  traverse  the  counties  of  Devonshire, 
Dorsetshire  and  Wiltshire,  and  the  journey  is  a 
most  interesting  one.  The  country,  particularly 
in  Devonshire,  is  very  beautiful — undulating,  well 
settled,  beautifully  shaded  with  trees  and  hedges, 
watered  with  small  trout  rivers,  and  full  of  green 
lanes,  picturesque  old  thatched  and  ivy-clad 
houses,  and  more  picturesque  square-towered 
churches.  Devonshire  is  one  of  the  best  agricul- 
tural counties  of  England,  and  is  the  original 
home  of  the  famous  Devon  cattle.  The  fields  are 
small,  and  one  wonders  that  so  much  land  should 
be  wasted  in  hedge-rows.  The  trees,  from  not 
being  crowded,  grow  very  wide-spreading  and 
ornamental,  and  the  whole  country  has  quite  the 
appearance  of  an  immense  park. 


342  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

Soon  we  pass  the  town  of  Honiton,  the  place 
where  the  famous  Honiton  lace  is  made,  and  a 
little  later  Axminster,  which  has  given  its  name 
to  the  well  known  Axminster  carpets,  the  most 
costly  variety  usually  found  in  our  carpet  stores. 

In  about  five  hours  Winchester  is  reached. 
This  old-time  capital  of  England  is  a  place  of 
about  eighteen  thousand  inhabitants,  with  quiet 
streets  lined  with  old-fashioned  two  and  three- 
storied  houses  in  great  variety  of  styles.  We 
had  but  a  short  time  to  devote  to  it,  and  so  has- 
tened to  the  cathedral,  the  central  object  of 
attraction. 

Winchester  Cathedral  is  one  of  the  largest  and 
oldest  in  England.  The  first  church  on  the  site 
was  built  nearly  seventeen  hundred  years  ago. 
This  and  the  succeeding  ones  were  destroyed  in 
the  various  Saxon  and  Danish  wars,  and  the 
present  structure  was  finished  in  1093.  It  was 
built  in  the  semi-circular-arched  Norman  style 
of  the  day,  with  walls  of  great  strength,  and  the 
towers  and  transepts,  which  remain  to  the  pres- 
ent, are  to-day  the  most  substantial  part  of  the 
entire  structure.  A  little  more  than  a  century 
later  the  choir  was  rebuilt  in  the  Early  English 
Gothic  style,  and  in  1406  William  of  Wykeham, 
Bishop  of  Winchester,  and  a  famous  architect 
and  builder,  who  was  also  the  founder  of  "New 
College,  Oxford,  and  Winchester  College,  altered 


WINCHESTER  CATHEDRAL.  343 

the  Norman  work  of  the  nave  into  what  is  known 
as  the  late  or  Perpendicular  Gothic.  It  was  not 
a  rebuilding,  but  a  substantial  alteration,  and  this 
nave,  with  its  Norman  skeleton,  is  consequently 
one  of  the  most  massive  to  be  found  in  any- 
Gothic  church. 

The  cathedral  is  full  of  historic  associations. 
In  a  carved  wooden  box — one  of  several  exposed 
on  the  top  of  the  screen  that  surrounds  the 
choir — are  the  remains  of  Egbert,  the  first  king 
of  united  England,  who  died  A.  D.  837,  or  more 
than  a  thousand  years  ago.  In  the  rear  of 
the  altar  is  the  tomb  of  William  II.,  known  as 
William  Rufus,  son  of  the  Conqueror,  who,  it  will 
be  recollected  by  readers  of  English  history,  was 
accidentally  killed  with  an  arrow  while  hunting 
in  the  New  Forest,  near  Winchester.  In  order  to 
corroborate  the  fact  of  this  being  his  tomb  the 
sarcophagus  was  opened  a  few  years  ago,  and 
among  the  bones  and  gold  tinsel  of  the  robe  in 
which  he  was  buried  was  found  the  arrow-head  of 
iron  which  had  killed  him.  In  the  Lady  Chapel, 
or  chapel  in  the  rear  of  the  main  altar,  Queen 
Mary  was  married  to  the  persecuting  Philip  II., 
of  Spain,  and  the  chair  is  still  seen  in  which  she 
sat  on  the  occasion — a  chair,  by  the  way,  which 
no  American  second-hand  dealer  would  take  as  a 
gift.  Adjoining  the  .chair  is  the  tomb  of  Stephen 
Gardiner,  bishop  of  Winchester,  the  execrated 


344  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

persecutor  of  the  protestants  in  Mary's  reign. 
In  the  nave  is  the  tomb  of  Bishop  Wykeham,  the 
builder  of  the  church,  with  a  well  preserved  effigy 
of  the  great  man  in  marble  reclining  upon  it.  In 
the  south  transept  stands  a  new  and  beautiful 
monument  of  the  late  bishop  of  Winchester, 
Samuel  Wilberforce,  son  of  the  great  English 
abolitionist  and  philanthropist,  William  Wilber- 
force. The  bishop  was  a  man  of  wonderful  per- 
suasive powers,  and  was  popularly  known  as 
Soapy  Sam.  He  was  killed  in  1873  by  being 
thrown  from  his  horse.  He  was  widely  known  as 
one  of  the  staunchest  supporters  of  modern  ritu- 
alism. In  the  north  aisle  we  observe  a  brass 
tablet  reading : 

Jane  Austen. 
Known  to  many  by  her  writings,  endeared  to  her  family  by  the 
varied  charms  of  her  character,  and  ennobled  by  chris- 
tian faith  and  piety,  was  born  at  Steventon, 
county  of  Hants  (Hampshire),  Dec.  16, 
1775,  and  buried  in  this  cathe- 
dral, July  24,  1817. 
"She  openeth  her  mouth  with  wisdom,  and  in  her  tongue  is  the 
law  of  kindness. " — Prov.  xxxi,  v.  26. 

Miss  Austen  was  the  popular  novelist  of  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century.  Her  '^  Pride 
and  Prejudice,"  recently  reprinted  by  the  Har- 
pers, is  a  capital  story,  and  a  good  illustration  of 
the  best  style  of  fiction  of  her  day. 

Winchester  Cathedral  is  one  of  the  longest  in 


WINCHESTER  345 

England,  being  five  hundred  and  sixty  feet  in 
length  inside  the  walls.  Over  the  altar  is  a  good 
painting  by  our  Benjamin  West,  representing  the 
raising  of  Lazarus.  The  old  oaken  stalls  and  fur- 
niture of  the  choir  date  from  the  thirteenth 
century. 

Winchester  has  always  been  one  of  the  richest 
and  most  desirable  dioceses  in  England,  and  the 
story  is  told  of  one  bishop  who,  being  offered  pro- 
motion to  the  archbishopric  of  Canterbury,  the 
highest  position  in  the  English  church,  declined 
it,  remarking  '*  Canterbury  is  the  greater  honor, 
but  Winchester  has  the  deepest  manger." 

Near  the  cathedral  is  Winchester  College,  one 
of  the  famous  ancient  collegiate  schools  of  Eng- 
land, of  which  those  of  Eton,  Rugby  and  Harrow 
are  among  the  other  principal  ones.  Read  Tom 
Brown's  '*  School  Days  at  Rugby,"  and  a  good 
idea  will  no  doubt  be  gained  of  school  life  at 
Winchester. 

Retracing  our  journey  twenty-five  miles  we 
reach  Salisbury,  whose  cathedral  ranks  as  one  of 
the  best  in  England,  and  boasts  the  highest  spire, 
its  summit  being  four  hundred  feet  from  the  pave- 
ment. Salisbury  Cathedral  has  few  tombs  of 
world-wide  celebrities,  and  fewer  historical  asso- 
ciations than  .Winchester,  but  it  is  famous  as 
being  the  only  cathedral  in  England  which  is  not 
an  architectural  patch- work,  it  having  been  begun 


346  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD.    ^ 

and  (except  the  spire)  completed  under  one  arclii- 
tect.  It  is  very  large,  being,  four  hundred  and 
forty-nine  feet  in  interior  length  and  a  full  half 
mile  in  exterior  circuit.  It  was  begun  in  the  year 
1220  and  completed  in  1258,  the  spire  being  added 
a  century  later.  Although  over  six  hundred  old, 
it  is  kept  so  clean  and  in  such  good  repair  that  it 
seems  quite  like  a  modern  church.  It  is  in  the 
pure  Early  English  Gothic  style,  with  only  nar- 
row lancet  windows  without  tracery.  The  col- 
umns, numbering,  it  is  said,  as  many  as  there  are 
hours  in  the  year,  are  clustered,  the  smaller  ones 
being  of  polished  dark  marble.  The  whole  is 
very  symmetrical  and  elegant,  and  to  any  lover 
of  Gothic  architecture  well  repays  a  visit. 

Before  the  Reformation  a  curious  custom  pre- 
vailed in  this  church.  The  choir  boys  annually 
elected  one  of  their  number  a  bishop,  and  he 
retained  the  honor  for  one  year.  On  one  day  in 
the  year  the  cathedral  authorities  recognized  the 
farce,  and  received  the  urchin  in  the  cathedral 
with  episcopal  honors.  If  the  lad  died  during 
the  year  he  was  buried  with  all  the  pomp  that 
would  attend  the  funeral  of  a  real  bishop.  Thus 
did  our  ancestors  combine  play  with  even  the 
graver  duties  of  religion.  A  few  years  ago,  in 
making  some  repairs,  the  stone  efljgy  which  had 
at  one  time  ornamented  the  tomb  of  one  of  these 
boy  bishops  was  discovered,  and  it  is  now  to  be 


SALISBURY.  h^ 

seen  among  the  other  monuments  in  the  nave  of 
the  church. 

The  original  Salisbury  was  a  mile  or  two  nortl 
of  the  present  city,  and  the  locality  is  now  knowi^ 
as  Old  Sarum.  It  continued  to  be  representee* 
by  two  members  of  parliament  down  to  the  periocl 
of  the  Reform  Bill  of  1832,  even  though  it  had 
long  been  entirely  deserted  of  inhabitants.  We 
drove  past  it  on  our  way  to  Stonehenge. 

This  is  another  object  of  especial  interest  in  this 
exceedingly  interesting  section  of  country.  Just 
north  of  Salisbury  is  a  stre'tch  of  a  dozen  or 
twenty  miles  of  open  country  known  as  Salisbury 
Plain.  Who  has  not  heard  of  Hannah  More's 
famous  tract ''  The  Shepherd  of  Salisbury  Plain  ?" 
This  plain  is  naked  of  trees  and  nearly  barren, 
being  composed  of  a  thin  turf  lying  almost  imme- 
diately upon  a  vast  bed  of  chalk.  It  is,  however, 
being  gradually  brought  under  cultivation.  The 
plain  lies  several  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  city  of  Salisbury,  and  is  traversed  by  numer- 
ous fine  roads.  About  ten  miles  north  of  Salis- 
bury, as  the  road  goes,  are  the  remarkable  pre- 
historic remains  known  as  Stonehenge,  consisting 
of  a  number  of  immense  stones  set  up  on  end, 
with  others  lying  horizontally  on  top  connecting 
one  with  another.  As  we  approach  the  locality  a 
great  number  of  mounds  or  tumuli  are  seen  scat- 
tered about  the  plain,  and  the  first  presumption 


348  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

is  that  they  have  some  connection  with  the  stones, 
but  we  are  assured  by  those  who  assume  to  know 
that  the  mounds  are  the  remains  of  the  Roman 
period,  and  that  the  outlines  of  an  entire  Roman 
military  camp  may  be  traced  in  the  neighborhood. 
Stonehenge  stands  out  on  the  open  plain  with 
neither  house,  fence  nor  tree  near  it.  It  is  sur- 
rounded by  the  remains  of  a  low  circular  ditch 
and  mound  perhaps  three  hundred  feet  in  diam- 
eter. The  stones  form  a  circle  about  one  hundred 
feet  across.  Each  upright  stone  is  planted  three 
or  four  feet  in  the  ground  and  stands  fifteen 
or  twenty  feet  above  the  level  of  the  turf.  Each 
is  five  or  six  feet  wide  and  two  and-a-half  or  three 
thick,  and  they  stand  perhaps  three  feet  apart  in 
the  clear.  The  connecting  stones  above  may  be 
a  yard  square  and  eight  or  ten  feet  long.  The 
upright  stones  have  each  rude  tenons  on  their 
upper  ends  about  the  size  and  shape  of  inverted 
three  gallon  kettles,  and  the  transverse  stones 
have  corresponding  mortises  to  receive  them. 
Originally  there  was  a  complete  circle  of  these 
upright  and  connected  stones,  but  not  more  than 
half  of  them  still  remain  in  position.  The  rest 
lie  prostrate  on  the  ground  in  a  more  or  less 
broken  state.  Within  this  outer  circle  is  a 
second,  composed  of  smaller  stones  set  up  like 
huge  posts.  Then  comes  another  circle  of  large 
stones,  with  connecting  lintels  like  the  first,  and 


STONEHENGE.  349 

then  another  circle  of  smaller  like  the  second, 
thus  making  four  in  all.  The  two  inner  circles 
are  less  perfect  than  the  outer,  and  it  is  claimed 
that  they  were  intended  to  be  of  horseshoe  rather 
than  circular  shape,  having  the  openings  toward 
the  east.  In  front  of  this  assumed  opening,  and 
perhaps  two  hundred  feet  distant,  is  a  large, 
upright,  single  stone,  rather  pointed  at  its  sum- 
mit, to  which  significance  is  attached  by  archae- 
ologists. Such  is  Stonehenge  as  I  saw  it.  Who 
built  it,  when,  and  for  what  purpose,  has  always 
been  a  profound  mystery.  The  mystery  is  inten- 
sified when  one  views  the  immense  blocks,  esti- 
mated to  weigh  from  fifteen  to  forty-five  tons  each, 
that  compose  it,  and  reflects  on  the  very  rude 
appliances  that  in  the  age  of  its  construction 
must  have  been  available  for  the  conveyance  and 
hoisting  of  such  masses.  And  the  wonder  still 
increases  when  we  learn  that  there  is  no  stone  of 
the  kind  in  the  vicinity,  and  of  some  of  the  pieces 
none  is  known  to  exist  in  England.  I  am  sorry 
to  say  the  digging  that  has  been  done  about  the 
base  of  some  of  these  stones,  with  the  effects  of 
the  frosts  of  many  centuries  of  winters,  is  gradu- 
ally leveling  the  structure  with  the  ground.  One 
of  the  finest  uprights  in  the  inner  circle  leans  ten 
and-a-half  feet  from  the  perpendicular,  and  may 
topple  over  at  any  time.     Of  course  the  presump- 


350         FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

tion  is  that  Stonehenge  is  a  Druidical  temple — a 
sort  of  cathedral,  perhaps,  of  the  remotest  period 
of  England's  antiquity. 

We  spend  the  night  at  Salisbury,  and  take  an 
early  train  to  Bath,  and  thence  to  Bristol,  reach- 
ing the  latter  place  after  a  most  charming  ride  in 
time  for  a  late  breakfast. 


CHAPTER  XXXY. 

BRISTOL  — ITS  HISTORY,  TRADE,  ANTIQUITIES,  FAMOUS  RESI- 
DENTS, TOPOGRAPHY,  AND  CHURCHES  —  GEORGE  MULLER'S 
ORPHAN  HOUSES. 

^JDrISTOL,  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles 
west  of  London,  was  formerly  the  second 
city  in  the  kingdom.  It  now  boasts  about 
two  hundred  and  forty  thousand  inhabitants. 
It  is  situated  on  the  river  Avon,  a  tributary  of 
the  Severn,  at  a  point  where  the  former  river 
makes  an  abrupt  turn  in  its  course  and  enters  a 
rocky  defile,  through  which  it  flows  northward 
six  miles  to  its  debouchure.  In  old  times  Bristol 
was  a  great  commercial  city,  and  largely  inter- 
ested in  the  West  India  trade.  It  was  the  first 
port  in  Europe  to  establish  steam  communication 
with  America,  but  lost  its  advantages  by  the  diffi- 
cult navigation  of  its  river  and  the  superior  dock 
facilities  of  Liverpool.  In  late  years  it  has  been 
making  an  effort  to  regain  its  commercial  ascend- 
ency. Over  $3,000,000  has  been  expended  in 
deepening  and  straightening  the  river,  and 
$3,500,000  more  in  constructing  a  commodious 
dockyard  and  warehouses  at  the  mouth  of  the 
river,  and  a  railroad  connecting  the  same  with 


352  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

the  city.  Simultaneously  with  these  improve- 
ments, two  lines  of  steamships,  the  Great  West- 
ern and  City  of  Bristol  lines,  have  been  estab- 
lished between  Bristol  and  New  York,  and  both 
are  understood  to  be  doing  a  profitable  business, 
and  to  be  gradually  extending  their  operations. 
Bristol  is  several  hours  nearer  New  York  than 
Liverpool,  and  with  her  present  excellent  facili- 
ties there  is  no  reason  why  she  should  not  become 
a  great  entrepot  for  American  trade. 

As  the  center  of  West  India  traffic,  Bristol 
became  a  great  sugar  mart,  and  engaged  heavily 
in  the  manufacture  of  refined  sugars,  but  this 
trade  has  been  absolutely  ruined  by  French  com- 
petition. England  maintains  a  free  trade  system ; 
France,  like  our  own  country,  cherishes  protec- 
tion to  her  manufactures.  In  order  to  encourage 
the  manufacture  of  sugar,  the  French  government 
pays  a  bounty  on  every  pound  exported  to  Eng- 
land. The  result  is,  loaf  sugar  is  sold  in  England 
at  about  eight  cents  a  pound,  while  in  France  the 
same  cannot  be  bought  for  less  than  twelve  cents. 
This  pernicious  interference  with  the  natural  laws 
of  trade  has  been  death  to  the  sugar  interests 
throughout  England,  but  the  people  at  large  have 
been  immensely  the  gainers  by  it,  saving,  as  they 
do,  two  or  three  cents  on  every  pound  of  sugar 
they  consume.  Meanwhile  the  French  people 
pay  the  full  value  of  the  article  for  what  they 


BRISTOL.  353 

nse,  and  moreover  are  taxed  heavily  to  enable 
tlie  English  consumers  to  buy  so  much  more 
cheaply  than  they  do  themselves.  Thus,  while 
free  trade,  as  in  England,  may  be  injurious  to  the 
few,  it  is  money  in  the  pockets  of  the  community 
at  large ;  and  while,  as  in  France,  protection  no 
doubt  benefits  the  few  manufacturers,  all  the 
advantage  they  gain  has  to  be  paid  for  ultimately 
by  the  great  body  of  tax  payers  and  home  con- 
sumers. 

But  while  Bristol  has  lost  her  sugar  refineries, 
she  has  built  up  very  extensive  interests  in  the 
manufacture  of  soap,  leather,  boots  and  shoes, 
and  clothing.  The  city  is  spreading  rapidly,  and 
has  all  the  outward  signs  of  business  prosperity. 

Besides  the  improvement  of  the  harbor,  impor- 
tant public  works  have  recently  been  carried  out 
in  the  opening  of  new  and  broad  thoroughfares 
in  various  parts  of  the  city  where  formerly  the 
trafiic  was  confined  to  narrow,  crooked  streets, 
and  a  very  complete  system  of  street  railways  has 
been  established.  These  railways,  by  the  way, 
employ  boys  of  fourteen  and  sixteen  as  conduct- 
ors, in  place  of  men,  and  by  a  system  of  checks 
find  it  quite'  satisfactory,  and  much  more  eco- 
nomical. 

Bristol  is  famous  for  many  antiquities  and  his- 
toric associations.  In  the  suburb  of  Clifton  is 
still  to  be  seen  a  well-defined  Roman  camp,  prob- 

23 


^t 


354  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

abiy  nineteen  centuries  old.  In  William  the  Con- 
queror's time  there  was  a  castle  here,  but  no  ves- 
tige of  it  now  remains.  The  chapter  house  of  the 
cathedral,  however,  and  a  gateway  to  the  once 
existing  abbey  of  St.  Augustine,  date  back  to  the 
Norman  period.  So  does  the  parish  church  of  St. 
James,  the  main  portion  of  which  dates  from  the 
beginning  of  the  twelfth  century.  Of  the  same 
period  is  the  curious  old  Temple  church,  erected 
in  1145  for  the  fraternity  of  Knights  Templar, 
and  noticeable  for  its  tower,  which  leans  five  feet 
from  the  perpendicular.  In  the  rebellion  of  1642 
Bristol  played  an  important  part,  her  sympathies 
being  with  the  parliamentary  party  and  against 
King  Charles  I.,  and  the  remains  of  a  fort  then 
built  on  Brandon  Hill  are  still  visible.  Queen's 
Square  is  famous  as  the  scene  of  a  great  riot  in 
1831,  growing  out  of  the  reform  bill  agitation,  in 
which  all  the  buildings  on  two  sides  of  the 
square,  the  Bishop's  palace,  and  the  various  pris- 
ons of  the  city,  were  burned.  It  cost  the  tax  pay- 
ers of  Bristol  about  $350,000  to  make  good  the 
losses  of  the  two  days'  rioting.  Four  of  the  rioters 
were  hanged,  and  about  eighty  more  transported. 
In  Bristol  William  Tyndale,  the  translator  of 
the  bible,  preached,  and  here  some  of  his  descend- 
ants still  reside.  To  Tyndale  we  owe  much  of  the 
literary  beauty  of  our  English  version  of  the 
bible,  his  translation  having  been  largely  followed 


EMINENT  BRISTOLIANS.  855 

by  subsequent  revisers.  He  met  his  death  in 
Belgium,  in  1536,  under  orders  from  the  Emperor 
Charles  V.,  being  first  strangled,  and  his  body 
afterwards  burned. 

Admiral  Penn,  father  of  our  William  Penn, 
was  also  a  native  of  Bristol,  and  his  monument  is 
still  seen  in  Redcliff  church.  Joseph  Butler, 
author  of  Butler' s  Analogy,  one  of  the  ablest  the- 
ological works  ever  written,  was  Bishop  of  Bristol, 
and  the  witty  Sidney  Smith  was  a  prebend  of  the 
cathedral,  where  he  early  began  to  make  a  sensa- 
tion by  his  preaching.  Here  Lady  Huntingdon 
established  one  of  her  chapels,  the  building  now 
being  in  use  by  the  Salvation  army  ;  here  George 
Whitefield  lived  and  preached,  and  opened  for  his 
services  in  1752  a  spacious  tabernacle,  still  in  exist- 
ence ;  and  here  John  Wesley  also  at  one  time 
labored,  Bristol  being  peculiarly  the  cradle  of 
Methodism.  In  the  suburb  of  Westbury  stands 
the  chapel  in  which  Adam  Clarke,  the  commen- 
tator, preached  his  last  sermon.  Rev.  Rowland 
Hill,  having  been  refused  ordination  by  six  bish- 
ops, was  at  last  ordained  by  the  Bishop  of  Bris- 
tol, and  here  also  began  his  earnest  ministry.  At 
Kingswood,  another  suburb,  Wesley  founded  his 
college  for  the  education  of  ministers,  which  has 
since  been  removed  to  Bath. 

In  one  street  in  Bristol  the  former  residence  of 
the  celebrated  Baptist  preacher  Robert  Hall  is 


356  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

pointed  ont.  By  the  way,  it  was  concerning  a 
baptist  or  congregational  chapel  in  this  city,  the 
cellar  of  which  was  rented  to  a  wine  merchant, 
which  suggested  the  old  rhyme : 

There's  a  spirit  above  and  a  spirit  below, 
A  spirit  of  love  and  a  spirit  of  woe; 
The  spirit  above  is  the  spirit  divine, 
The  spirit  below  is  the  spirit  of  wine. 

Here  is  a  bridge  with  its  romance.  Some  years 
ago  a  deserted  infant  was  fonnd  upon  it  and 
taken  to  a  public  institution  to  be  brought  up. 
In  the  absence  of  a  legitimate  name  he  was  called 
from  the  place  of  his  discovery.  Bridges,  and, 
from  his  being  found  on  the  half  of  the  bridge 
embraced  in  St.  Thomas  parish,  Thomas  was  made 
his  baptismal  name.  In  due  time  Thomas  Bridges 
developed  ability,  became  a  teacher,  then  a  cler- 
gyman, and  is  now  at  the  head  of  a  flourishing 
mission  in  Patagonia.  Rev.  Thomas  Bridges  was 
recently  in  England  superintending  the  printing 
of  a  translation  of  the  scriptures  he  had  made 
into  the  native  language  of  his  converts.  His 
story  will  illustrate  another  phase  of  the  origin  of 
surnames. 

S.  T.  Coleridge  and  Robert  Southey  at  one  time 
resided  in  Bristol,  the  latter  being  born  here,  and 
at  St.  Mary's'Redcliff  church  the  two  poets  mar- 
ried a  pair  of  sisters,  milliners  of  the  place. 
David  Hume,  the  historian,  was  here  apprenticed 


THOMAS  CHATTERTOK.       .  357 

in  early  life  to  a  mercliant,  and  was  dismissed  for 
presuming  to  correct  his  employer's  grammar. 
Bristol  was  the  birthplace  and  home  of  that 
talented  but  unfortunate  genius,  Thomas  Chatter- 
ton.  While  only  a  boy  of  seventeen  he  produced 
imitations  of  ancient  literature  which  deceived 
even  the  learned  and  astute  Horace  Walpole. 
When  Walpole  discovered  the  youth  and  humble 
position  of  his  correspondent  he  treated  him 
with  such  contempt  that  Chatterton'  s  heart  was 
broken.  He  went  up  to  London  to  seek  literary 
employment,  struggled  with  starvation  for  four 
months,  and  then  closed  his  sad  career  with  poi- 
son in  1770.  It  was  in  the  muniment  room  of 
E,edcliff  church  that  Chatterton  professed  to  have 
found  the  Rowley  manuscripts,  which,  however, 
were  really  the  emanation  of  his  own  skillful  pen. 
Had  he  lived  Chatterton  would  have  occupied  a 
front  rank  in  English  literature.  A  fine  monu- 
ment to  him  adorns  St.  Mary' s  churchyard.  On 
Park  street  the  house  is  still  standing  in  which 
Hannah  More,  the  authoress,  and  her  sisters,  kept 
a  school  in  the  early  part  of  this  century,  and  in 
a  populous  district  in  the  east  end  of  Bristol  is 
a  chapej  erected  to  her  memory  and  known  as 
the  Hannah  More  Memorial  Chapel. 

Dr.  Jenner,  the  discoverer  of  vaccination,  was 
a  resident  of  Bristol  in  the  opening  years  of  the 
present  century.     Thomas  Lawrence,  the  eminent 


358  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

painter,  was  born  here,  and  so,  if  I  mistake  not, 
was  Sebastian  Cabot.  At  all  events  the  Cabots 
sailed  from  Bristol  on  their  famous  voyage  in 
which  Newfoundland  was  discovered  and  a  foot- 
hold on  American  soil  given  to  the  English  by 
right  of  discovery. 

It  was  in  Bristol  that  the  first  shot  tower  was 
erected,  and,  though  nearly  a  century  old,  it  still 
stands  just  opposite  Redcliff  church.  The  com- 
mon shot,  produced  by  permitting  a  shower  of 
melted  lead  to  fall  from  a  great  height,  the  drops 
assuming  a  globular  form  and  cooling  before  they 
reach  the  bottom,  was  the  invention  of  a  Bristol 
plumber,  one  Wm.  Watts,  in  1782.  His  first  exper- 
iments were  from  the  tower  of  Eedcliff  church, 
which  proving  successful,  led  to  the  erection  of 
the  shot  tower  here  alluded  to,  which  earned  for 
the  inventor  a  large  fortune.  Like  many  other 
fortunate  inventors  he  soon  sunk  his  pile  in  an 
impracticable  scheme  and  died  miserably  poor. 

Of  all  the  cities  I  visited  in  Europe  Bristol  is 
the  most  difficult  for  a  stranger  to  learn  the 
topography  of.  The  crookedness  of  the  river, 
the  irregularity  of  the  hills  upon* which  a  great 
part  of  the  city  is  built,  with  the  conformatory 
necessities  of  the  old  original  walled  city  and  the 
aesthetic  tastes  of  the  layers  out  of  the  newer  resi- 
dence portions,  all  combine  to  confuse  and  baffle 
the  traveler.     It  is  a  city  of  curves,  and  threading 


REDCLIFF  CHURCH.  359 

its  often  narrow  streets  one  is  constantly  coming 
out  in  the  most  unexpected  places.  Business  is 
confined  chiefly  to  the  lower  portions  near  the 
river.  For  residence,  people  seek  the  hill,  which 
rises  two  or  three  hundred  feet,  and  at  the  west- 
ern extremity  is  known  as  the  suburb  of  Clifton. 
The  views  obtained  from  many  points  in  this 
upper  portion  of  Bristol  are  very  fine,  in  some 
places  extending  across  the  valley  of  the  Avon 
for  many  miles.  Back  of  the  residence  portion  is 
an  extensive  down  or  open  common  which  in  late 
years  has  been  secured  to  the  public  for  a  park. 
Stone  is  very  abundant  in  Bristol,  and  the  houses 
are  mostly  built  of  that  material.  One  variety  is 
a  red  sandstone,  a  wall  of  which  has  a  very  pleas- 
ing effect.  It  is  this  red  stone  that  has  given 
name  to  Redcliff  parish,  the  church  of  which,  St. 
Mary's,  is  quite  cathedral- like  in  its  proportions, 
and  is  claimed  to  be  the  finest  parish  church  in 
England. 

St.  Mary's  Redcliff  is  about  six  hundred  years 
old.  Having  fallen  into  decay  and  been  seriously 
damaged  by  the  fall  of  its  spire,  it  wa^  rebuilt 
and  restored  in  the  fifteenth  century  by  one  Wm. 
Cannynge,  the  richest  Bristol  merchant  of  his 
day,  and  five  times  mayor  of  the  city.  It  is  told 
of  this  Cannynge  that  being  visited  by  the  king 
the  latter  set  his  heart  on  marrying  his  host  to  a 
favorite  lady  of  the  court.     As  the  king's  will 


360  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

could  not  be  opposed,  Cannynge,  who  was  not 
inclined  to  matrimony,  escaped  by  becoming  a 
priest  and  assuming  the  abbacy  of  a  convent  he 
had  founded  at  Westbury  near  by.  Cannynge, 
or  Canning  as  we  should  spell  it  nowadays,  died 
in  1474.  The  spire  of  Redcliff  church  was  never 
rebuilt  until  a  few  years  ago,  when  two  hundred 
and  sixty-five  thousand  dollars  was  spent  in  a 
thorough  restoration  of  the  edifice.  We  visited 
the  muniment  room  over  the  north  porch  and  saw 
the  old  mediaeval  wooden  chests  in  which  Chat- 
terton  professed  to  have  found  his  manuscripts. 
William  of  Wykeham,  afterwards  bishop  of  Win- 
chester, alluded  to  in  a  former  chapter,  was  vicar 
of  Redcliff  in  1356. 

Bristol  Cathedral  was  formerly  the  abbey 
church  of  St.  Augustine.  The  abbey  was  found- 
ed in  1142,  and  ^the  old  Norman  church  was 
replaced  by  a  Gothic  one  in  the  first  half  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  but  only  the  choir  and  tran- 
septs were  completed.  Within  the  past  few  years 
the  enterprising  citizens  of  Bristol  have  completed 
the  strugture,  at  a  cost  of  $250,000,  by  the  erec- 
tion of  a  nave,  comporting  in  style  with  the  older 
portions  of  the  building.  Bristol  Cathedral  is 
one  of  the  smallest  in  the  kingdom,  and  is  pecu- 
liar for  its  choir,  nave  and  aisles  being  all  of  the 
same  height ;  in  other  words,  possessing  no  clere- 
story.    It  contains  the  tomb  of  Bishoj)  Butler, 


BKISTOL  CATHEDRAL.  361 

alluded  to  above,  who  was  born  in  1692,  died 
1752. 

In  Bristol  Cathedral  I  first  noticed  a  deflection 
in  the  choir  from  a  right  line  with  the  nave.  Sub- 
sequently I  observed  it  in  other  old  churches,  and 
in  the  ancient  parish  church  of  Henbury,  near 
Bristol,  it  is  very  pronounced.  The  deflection  of 
the  chancel  or  choir  is  universally  to  the  left,  as 
seen  from  the  nave.  An  authority  in  such  mat- 
ters informs  me  that  it  was  designed  by  the  sym- 
bol-loving builders  to  represent  the  drooping  of 
the  dead  Saviour's  head  as  he  hung  upon  the 
cross. 

Bristol  has  a  famous  school  founded  and  en- 
dowed in  1706,  by  Edward  Colston,  another 
wealthy  Bristol  merchant.  Under  its  original 
organization  one  hundred  poor  boys  were  fed, 
clothed  and  educated  until  fourteen  years  of  age, 
when  they  were  discharged  with  an  apprentice- 
ship fee  of  ten  pounds  each.  The  scope  of  the 
school  is  now  considerably  extended. 

Everybody  has  heard  of  George  MuUer  and 
his  famous  orphan  houses.  It  will  be  remem- 
bered that  Mr.  Muller  visited  America  a  year  or 
two  ago  and  preached  in  many  of  our  churches. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  sect  known  as  the  Ply- 
mouth Brethren,  and  began  his  ministerial  labors 
in  Bristol  some  forty -five  years  ago.  Soon  after 
settling  there  his  warm  christian  heart  led  him  to 


362  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

take  into  his  family  a  friendless  orphan  child, 
then  another  and  another,  till  his  house  was  full, 
and  other  houses  had  to  be  taken  for  their  accom- 
modation. For  the  support  of  his  large  family- 
he  trusted  solely  to  Providence,  confidently 
believing  that  being  engaged  in  the  Lord's  work, 
the  Lord  would  provide  the  means  for  carrying  it 
on.  When  the  larder  was  depleted  he  would 
resort  to  prayer,  and  always,  he  assures  us,  with 
signal  success.  Then  he  began  to  pray  for  means 
wherewith  to  erect  a  larger  and  more  suitable 
home  for  his  numerous  dependents,  and  the  means 
were  promptly  forthcoming.  He  purchased  a 
tract  of  land  on  Ashley  Down,  a  mile  or  two  from 
Bristol,  and  there  built  a  large,  plain,  but  sub- 
stantial three  story  building  with  accommoda- 
tions for  about  four  hundred  orphans.  This  was 
speedily  filled,  and  a  second  nearly  similar  build- 
ing erected.  From  time  to  time  the  scope  of  his 
operations  has  increased  until  to-day  there  are 
five  of  these  orphan  houses  with  over  two  thou- 
sand inmates.  The  buildings  and  land  have  cost 
nearly  $560,000,  the  annual  expense  of  main- 
tenance is  nearly  $150,000,  and  the  whole  amount 
collected  and  expended  from  the  first  by  this 
earnest  man  has  been  nearly  three  million  dol- 
lars, and  not  a  dollar  of  all  this  large  sum  has 
been  solicited  from  any  one.  The  houses  are  fin- 
ished in  the  plainest  manner  possible,  and  the 


MULLER'S  ORPHAN  HOUSES.  363 

cMldren,  though  kindly  treated,  are  by  no 
means  pampered.  That  they  are  well  taken  care 
of  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  out  of  two 
thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty  inmates  of  the 
institution  for  the  past  year  only  twenty-two  died 
— an  extraordinary  small  percentage  for  children 
of  these  ages.  They  are  aU  taught  to  work,  and 
when  old  enough  are  sent  out,  the  girls  as  domes- 
tic help,  for  which  they  have  been  especially 
trained,  the  boys  as  apprentices  to  useful  trades. 
All  receive  in  the  schools  sound  religious  training, 
and  those  who  are  capable  of  it  no  inconsiderable 
intellectual  culture,  as  was  evident  from  the 
rapid  mental  calculations  made  by  boys  of  ten  or 
twelve  years,  on  the  occasion  of  our  visit. 


CHAPTER  XXXYI. 

CHEPSTOW  CASTLE  — TINTERN  ABBEY  — GLOUCESTER  AND  ITS 
CATHEDRAL— WORCESTER  CATHEDRAL-STRATFORD-ON-AVON 
— SHAKSPEARE'S  BIRTHPLACE  AND  TOMB. 

EAVING  Bristol,  we  cross  the  Severn,  tlie 
largest  river  in  England,  into  Monmouth- 
shire,  originally  one  of  the  counties  of 
Wales,  and  lie  over  a  few  hours  at  Chepstow  for 
the  purpose  of  visiting  an  old  mediaeval  castle, 
mostly  in  ruins,  to  be  found  there.  It  was  a  very 
interesting  experience  to  climb  the  turret  stairs 
and  thread  the  passages  in  the  walls  of  this  old 
structure.  The  floors  and  roofs  have  long  since 
disappeared,  but  much  of  the  stone  work  is  still 
in  good  condition  and  well  illustrates  the  arrange- 
ment and  accommodations  of  an  ancient  castle. 
Chepstow  castle  was  built  immediately  after  the 
Norman  conquest,  and  for  several  centuries  was 
an  important  fortress  on  the  western  border  of 
England.  During  the  great  rebellion  it  stood  a 
long  siege  by  the  parliamentary  army,  and  was 
only  at  last  starved  into  surrender.  It  then  con- 
stituted the  prison  of  the  holy  and  eloquent 
Jeremy  Taylor,  who  was  too  strong  a  royalist  for 
Cromwell  to  trust  at  large.     After  the  restoration 


TINTERN  ABBEY.  365 

it  became,  in  turn,  the  prison  of  Henry  Marten, 
one  of  tlie  most  active  participants  in  the  convic- 
tion and  execution  of  Charles  I.,  and  who  was 
kept  here  for  twenty  years,  or  until  his  death. 
The  property  now  belongs  to  the  Duke  of  Beau- 
fort, and  is  being  carefully  preserved. 

Four  miles  from  Chepstow,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Wye,  an  aifiuent  of  the  Severn,  stands  the  very 
fine  ruin  of  Tin  tern  Abbey.  This  religious  house 
was  instituted  early  in  the  Norman  period  and 
continued  until  the  Reformation,  when  the  abbey 
was  dissolved  and  the  buildings  were  permitted 
to  go  to  ruin.  The  abbey  church,  which  must 
have  been  a  beautiful  one  in  its  day,  was  very 
substantially  built,  and,  except  part  of  its  north 
wall,  sfeems  hardly  to  require  more  than  a  roof  to 
fit  it  again  for  occupancy.  It  is  two  hundred  and 
twenty-eight  feet  in  length  and  was  seventy  feet  in 
height  to  the  vaulting,  none  of  which  now  remains. 
The  walls  are  largely  overgrown  with  ivy,  and 
present  a  very  picturesque  appearance.  Besides 
the  church  there  can  be  traced  the  remains  of 
other  monastic  buildings,  as  the  cloisters,  chap- 
ter-house, sacristy,  refectory,  kitchen,  guest- 
house, etc.  The  entire  premises  of  the  abbey 
embraced  thirty-four  acres.  The  grounds  in  and 
around  the  abbey  are  nicely  sodded  and  well  kept 
by  the  proprietor,  the  Duke  of  Beaufort,  and  to 
defray  the  expenses  of  protection  and  repairs  a 
charge  of  sixpence  each  is  made  to  all  visitors. 


366  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

On  a  commanding  eminence  overlooking  for 
miles  the  valley  of  the  Severn,  is  a  tall  monument 
to  Tyndale,  the  reformer  and  translator  of  the 
scriptures. 

Gloucester,  thirty-seven  miles  north  of  Bristol, 
is  a  place  of  thirty  thousand  inhabitants,  and  is 
known  to  the  younger  portion  of  my  readers  as 
the  place  where,  a  trifle  more  than  a  century  ago, 
Robert  Raikes  established  the  first  Sunday  school. 
It  has  a  fine  old  cathedral,  part  of  which  was 
built  in  the  ninth  century.  It  was  originally  of 
Norman  style  and  very  massive,  but  in  the  four- 
teenth century  was  altered  over  in  part  to  Per- 
pendicular Gothic.  The  result  is,  though  inter- 
esting, it  has  a  patch-work  look  which  detracts 
much  from  its  elegance.  It  contains  the  tombs  of 
Robert,  Duke  of  Normandy,  eldest  son  of  William 
the  Conqueror,  and  Edward  II.,.  who  was  mur- 
dered in  Berkeley  castle,  not  far  distant,  in  1327. 
A  very  common  thing  in  old  English  churches  is 
to  see  the  tomb  of  the  parents  of  a  large  family 
adorned  with  kneeling  eiBgies  in  stone  of  all  the 
children,  the  sons  kneeling  on  one  side,  the 
daughters  on  the  other,  and  all  arranged  in  order 
of  age,  the  eldest  in  the  center  of  the  tomb  and 
the  processions  tapering  away  to  the  babies  at  the 
sides.  In  Gloucester  Cathedral  there  is  one  such 
with  this  inscription: 

John  Bower  had  nyne  sones  and  seauen  daughters  by  his  wife 
Ann  Bower. 


GLOUCESTER.  367 

John  died  in  1615.  A  statue  of  Dr.  Edward 
Jenner,  the  discoverer  of  vaccination,  stands  in 
the  nave,  and  another  of  Kobert  Eaikes  is  to  be 
added.  The  east  windovi^  of  the  cathedral  dates 
from  1350,  and  is  reputed  to  be  the  largest  in 
England. 

Just  west  of  the  cathedral  is  the  square  where 
John  Hooper,  bishop  of  Gloucester,  was  burned 
at  the  stake  February  9,  1555,  for  being  a  protes- 
tant.  A  fine  monument  to  the  martyr  now  occu- 
pies the  site. 

In  one  of  the  principal  streets  of  the  city  stands 
the  Bell  Inn,  modernized  it  is  true,  but  the  same 
inn  where  Gfeorge  Whitefield  was  born  and  passed 
his  early  life. 

Passing  on  twenty- eight  miles  to  Worcester  we 
have  on  our  right  the  Cotswold  hills,  whence  the 
famous  Cotswold  breed  of  sheep  take  their  name. 
On  our  left  are  the  famed  Malvern  hills.  Wor- 
cester is  a  comfortable  old  city  of  perhaps  forty 
thousand  inhabitants,  situated  on  the  Severn, 
which  is  here  a  small  stream.  It  is  memorable  as 
being  the  scene  of  the  last  struggle  between  the 
royalists  and  the  parliamentary  forces  under 
Cromwell,  September,  3,  1651,  when  the  royalists 
were  utterly  defeated.  Worcester  is  also  known 
an  the  world  over  by  the  Worcestershire  table 
sauce  manufactured  there. 

Worcester  Cathedral  is  one  of  the  most  beau- 


368  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

tiful  I  have  seen.  It  mucli  resembles  Salisbury, 
though  in  the  crypt,  chapter-house  and  portions 
of  the  nave,  remains  of  the  original  Norman  struc- 
ture, destroyed  by  fire  in  1113,  are  discoverable. 
The  choir  is  very  pure  Early  English  Gothic  of 
the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  century.  The  cloisters 
of  a  later  period  are  among  the  best  found  in 
any  of  the  cathedrals.  The  spandrils  of  the 
arches  around  the  choir  and  transepts  are  filled 
with  rude  reliefs  representing  scriptural  scenes, 
and  some  of  them  from  their  excessive  realism 
are  very  amusing.  Although  almost  entirely 
restored,  Worcester  Cathedral  well  illustrates  the 
iconaclasm  of  the  puritan  regime.  During  Crom- 
well's rule,  orders  were  sent  down  to  all  the 
cathedral  churches  to  hew  down  the  tabernacle 
work  and  deface  the  images  inclosed,  and  then 
to  whitewash  the  previously  decorated  walls. 
Scarcely  a  statue  or  efloigy  can  be  found  in  any 
church,  of  an  earlier  date  than  the  Commonwealth, 
that  has  not  at  least  its  nose  knocked  off.  In 
Worcester  some  of  the  more  delicately  carved 
stonework  is  shamefully  hacked  and  battered. 
The  whitewash  of  generations  has  now  been  care- 
fully scraped  off,  and  hundreds  of  polished  brown 
marble  columns  have  been  brought  to  light. 

Worcester  Cathedral  is  not  over -filled  with 
tombs.  The  principal  are  those  of  King  John, 
from  whom  Magna  Charta  was  wrested  by  the 


WORCESTER  CATHEDRAL,  369 

barons,  and  who  died  A.  D.  1216,  and  Prince 
Arthur,  elder  brother  of  Henry  VIII.,  who  died 
A.  D.  1502.  His  widow,  Katharine  of  Aragon,  it 
will  be  recollected,  Henry  married,  and  the  neg- 
lect of  the  Pope  to  divorce  him  when  the  illegal- 
ity of  the  marriage  began  to  prey  on  his  con- 
science, precipitated  the  Reformation  in  England. 
Besides  these  the  most  noticeable  is  a  monu- 
mental brass  in  the  south  transept  to  the  memory 
of  Kev.  Wm.  H.  Havergal,  the  musical  composer, 
and  the  father  of  Frances  Ridley  Havergal,  the 
poet  and  author.  Mr.  Havergal,  who  was  a  canon 
of  Worcester  Cathedral,  died  in  1870,  his  daugh- 
ter in  1879.  A  popular  hymn  tune  of  his  com- 
posing, and  called  by  his  name,  is  found  in  most 
of  our  American  tune  books. 

There  are  also  several  tombs  of  Crusaders,  with 
their  cross-legged  eifigies.  From  the  intelligent 
verger  I  learned  a  lesson  in  knight-errantry.  If 
the  effigy  on  a  knight' s  tomb  has  its  legs  crossed 
near  the  ankle  it  signifies  that  the  deceased  was 
engaged  in  but  one  campaign  in  the  Holy  Land  ; 
crossed  below  the  knee  it  signifies  two  expedi- 
tions, and  at  the  thigh,  three.  If  the  hand  grasp- 
ing the  sword  appears  palm  up,  the  knight 
returned  from  the  wars  alive ;  if  knuckles  up,  he 
was  brought  home  dead. 

Every  year  a  grand  musical  festival,  lasting  a 
week,  is  held  in  turn  at  Worcester,  Hereford  and 


370  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

Gloucester  cathedrals.  Several  oratorios  are  pro- 
duced each  year,  and  the  event  is  a  notable  one 
in  musical  circles. 

Worcester  is  also  famous  for  a  royal  porcelain 
factory,  established  one  hundred  and  thirty  years 
ago,  where  the  most  artistic  wares  produced  in 
England  are  turned  out. 

It  is  the  practice  in  Worcester,  and  in  many 
other  parts  of  England,  to  suspend  all  business 
and  close  the  shops  at  three  o'clock  every  Thurs- 
day afternoon,  when  the  streets  are  as  quiet  and 
deserted  as  on  Sunday. 

We  leave  Worcester  for  Stratford  -  on  -  Avon 
(pronounced  thereabouts  ^von,  with  a  long  a\ 
the  birth  and  burial  place  of  the  immortal  Shak- 
speare,  twenty-five  miles  distant.  We  traverse  a 
beautiful  agricultural  country.  Stratford  is  situ- 
ted  on  a  branch  line  in  the  county  of  Warwick- 
shire. It  is  a  large  market  town,  with  broad  and 
well  laid  out,  but  irregular,  streets,  and  many 
old-fashioned  houses.  It  is  a  neat,  clean  place, 
and  is  evidently  an  object  of  much  pride  to  its 
inhabitants.  We  follow  a  long,  curving  street 
leading  away  from  the  station,  turn  to  the  left 
into  Windsor  street,  and  then  by  an  acute  angle 
to  the  right  into  Henley  street.  A  few  doors 
from  the  corner  on  the  left  hand  side  stands 
Shaksi^eare's  house.  It  is  a  long  two-story-and- 
attic  building,  with  dormer  windows  in  the  roof 


BHAKSPEARE'S  BIRTHPLACE.  371 

and  four  low,  broad  windows  filled  with  small 
diamond-shaped  glass  set  in  lead,  in  each  of  the 
other  floors.  The  house  is  built  of  a  framework 
of  oak,  filled  in  between  with  plaster,  such  as  was 
so  common  about  three  hundred  years  ago.  There 
are  two  doors  opening  from  the  street.  We  step 
up  to  the  first  and  ring  the  bell.  An  old  lady- 
opens,  and  proceeds  to  show  us  through  the 
house,  the  fee  for  which  is  a  shilling  each.  Scores 
of  people  visit  the  house  daily.  The  room  we 
enter  from  the  street  is  the  former  kitchen,  with 
an  immense  stone  fireplace  on  one  side,  stone 
floor,  and  low  ceiling.  When  the  house  passed 
out  of  the  Shakspeare  family  this  room  was  long 
used  as  a  butcher's  shop.  Behind  it  is  a  similar 
room,  probably  the  family  sitting  room.  Over 
the  kitchen,  and  of  course  fronting  the  street,  is 
the  room  in  which  the  great  dramatist  first  saw 
light,  April  23d,  1564.  It  is  a  large  room,  with 
ceiling  that  cannot  be  more  than  seven  and  a  half 
feet  high,  a^nd  the  walls  and  ceiling,  and  even  the 
glass  of  the  windows,  are  literally  covered  with 
the  names  of  visitors,  though  the  practice  is  now 
no  longer  permitted.  Except  a  few  articles  of 
old-fashioned  furnkure  of  about  the  Shakspear- 
ean  period,  the  room  is  bare.  In  the  room  over 
the  sitting  room  above  mentioned,  the  ceiling  was 
so  low  that  it  has  been  taken  out  for  the  comfort 
of  visitors,  exposing  to  view  the  rafters  of  the 


372  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

attic  story  above.  With  this  exception  the  house 
has  been  put  back  as  nearly  as  possible  into  the 
condition  in  which  Shakspeare  saw  it,  and  the 
greatest  care  is  exercised  for  its  future  preserva- 
tion. Some  adjacent  houses  have  been  pulled 
down  to  lessen  the  fire  risk,  and  what  heat  is 
needed  is  supplied  by  hot  water  pipes,  the  hot 
water  for  which  is  brought  under  ground  from 
premises  some  yards  distant.  Not  so  much  as 
the  striking  of  a  match  is  permitted  in  the  house. 
The  other  half  of  the  house  is  used  as  a  Shak- 
spearean  museum,  in  which  are  collected  a  great 
many  relics  of  the  family,  a  number  of  pictures, 
many  autographs,  and  an  extensive  Shakspearean 
library. 

At  the  end  of  Henley  street  we  turn  to  our 
right  into  High  street,  two  blocks  down  which, 
on  the  left  hand  side,  formerly  stood  the  elegant 
mansion  which  Shakspeare,  when  he  became  well 
off,  purchased,  and  in  which  he  spent  the  last 
nineteen  years  of  his  life,  and  ultimately  died. 
Some  remains  of  the  foundation  are  still  to  be 
seen,  and  are  carefully  preserved  by  the  citizens 
of  Stratford.  The  indignation  of  the  people 
against  its  last  owner,  w^ho  some  years  ago  pulled 
it  down,  is  hardly  yet  abated.  The  site  has  since 
become  public  property,  and  is  protected  by  an 
elegant  iron  fence.  Turning  to  the  left  at  this 
point,  a  walk  of  a  block  brings  us  to  the  river,  on 


STRATFORD-ON-AVON.  373 

the  bank  of  which  stands  the  Memorial  Theatre, 
erected  a  few  years  ago  to  commemorate  the 
three  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  poet' s  birth. 
Connected  with  the  theatre  are  picture  galleries, 
library,  and  reading  room,  the  whole  being 
designed  ultimately  as  a  dramatic  college,  though 
this  portion  of  the  scheme  has  not  yet  been  put 
into  effect. 

Following  the  bank  of  the  river  for  a  few  hun- 
dred yards,  we  come  to  the  interesting  parish 
church  of  Stratford,  in  which  Shakspeare  lies 
buried.  It  is  an  interesting  old  building,  situated 
in  the  midst  of  a  large  churchyard  w^hich  extends 
on  one  side  quite  to  the  margin  of  the  Avon. 
The  central  tower  must  have  been  built  for  an 
earlier  church  than  the  one  existing,  and  must  be 
fully  eight  hundred  years  old.  The  transepts  are 
the  next  oldest  portion,  being  of  Early  English 
Gothic  of  about  the  year  1200.  The  nave,  or  por- 
tion of  the  church  west  of  the  central  tower,  is  in 
the  Perpendicular  Gothic  style,  and  is  said  to  have 
been  built  about  the  year  1400.  The  date  of  the 
chancel  is  put  at  1480.  In  this  chancel,  just  in 
front  of  the  communion  railing,  lie  in  a  row  the 
tombs  of  the  Shakspeare  family,  a  plain,  flat 
stone  marking  each.  That  to  the  left,  a3  we  face 
the  altar,  is  the  tomb  of  Shakspeare' s  wife,  better 
known  by  her  maiden  name,  Anne  Hathaway. 


374  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

Next  comes  that  of  the  poet  himself,  with  this 
inscription : 

Good  friend,  for  Iesvs  sake  forbearb 

to  digg  the  dvst  encloased  heake  ; 

BlESTE  be  ye  man   YT   SPARES  THES   STONES, 
AND  CVRST  BE  HE  YT  MOVES  MY  BONES, 

On  the  wall  of  the  church  just  over  Mrs.  Shak- 
speare's  grave  is  the  monument  to  her  husband. 
His  half-length  figure  in  stone,  painted,  is  repre- 
sented in  the  act  of  writing.  Above  is  his  coat  of 
arms,  the  whole  being  surmounted  by  a  skull. 
The  inscription  shows  that  he  died  on  the  23d  of 
April,  1616,  aged  53. 

As  the  reader  is  aware,  there  has  always  been  a 
good  deal  of  controversy  as  to  the  proper  spelling 
of  Shakspeare's  name.  The  difficulty  has  arisen 
from  the  very  illegible  w^y  in  which  the  poet 
wrote  it  himself,  and  the  probability  that  he  did 
not  himself  always  observe  the  same  siDelling. 


CHAPTETt  XXXVII. 

WARWICK  CASTLE  —  LEAMINGTON  —  KENILWORTH  —  COVENTRY- 
LADY  GODIVA— BIRMINGHAM  — LICHFIELD  — THE  CATHEDRAL 
—ECCENTRIC  ARCHITECTURE— DR.  JOHNSON. 

CyJ  FEW  miles  from  Stratford  is  Warwick 
r¥  (pronounced  Warrick),  famous  for  its  cas- 
^  V  tie,  the  best  preserved  old  baronial  castle 
in  England.  It  is  situated  on  an  abrupt  liill  over- 
looking tlie  Avon,  and  is  surrounded  by  a  beauti- 
ful park  of  about  one  thousand  acres.  It  is 
owned  by  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  who  resides  there 
a  portion  of  the  time.  When  away  from  the 
castle  the  building  and  grounds  are  open  free  to 
the  public,  though  a  small  fee  is  expected  by  the 
attendants  who  show  you  around.  It  will  be 
remembered  that  a  portion  of  the  castle  was  acci- 
dentally burned  about  ten  years  ago,  but  this  has 
since  been  fully  restored.  We  lirst  pass  the  por- 
ter's lodge  by  a  gate  which  opens  to  our  knock. 
A  long,  winding,  shady  walk,  cut  for  some  dis- 
tance through  solid  rock,  leads  up  to  the  draw- 
bridge and  gate  tower  of  the  castle.  The  gate 
tower  is  fitted  with  two  heavy  portcullises,  or 
heavy  iron  gratings,  which,  sliding  in  grooves  in 
the  stone  walls,  were  formerly  lowered  when  dan- 

375 


376  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

ger  threatened  from  without.  The  gate  tower 
passed,  we  find  ourselves  in  a  spacious  courtyard 
with  a  great  oval  lawn  in  the  center.  To  our 
right  and  left  are  strong  towers  of  defense  one 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  hight.  The  left  side  of 
the  courtyard  is  occupied  by  the  private  and 
state  apartments  of  the  castle,  a  series  of  elegant 
Elizabethan  (rothic  structures.  Midway  their 
length  we  pass  through  a  spacious  porch,  up  a 
broad  flight  of  stone  steps,  through  a  massive 
oaken  doorway,  and  we  find  ourselves  in  the  great 
hall. 

The  walls  are  of  stone,  the  floor  of  marble,  and 
the  ceiling,  some  thirt}^  or  forty  feet  high,  of 
carved  oak.  The  wall  ojDposite  the  door  of 
entrance  must  be  fully  eight  feet  thick,  and  the 
windows  in  it  look  down  upon  the  Avon  a  hun- 
dred feet  below.  Around  the  hall  are  ancient 
arms  and  armor,  and  other  trophies.  From  the 
great  hall  we  x)ass  through  a  series  of  large  draw- 
ing rooms,  all  looking  out  upon  the  Avon,  and  all 
filled  with  rare  inlaid  cabinets  and  tables,  pictures 
by  such  artists  as  Rubens,  Vandyke,  Rembrandt, 
Holbein,  Murillo,  Wouwerman,  and  others,  rare 
porcelain,  articles  formerly  the  property  of  the 
unfortunate  Marie  Antoinette,  and  other  objects 
rich  and  rare.  The  last  room  of  the  suite  contains 
a  bedstead,  a  trunk,  and  other  articles  formerly 
belonging  to  Queen  Anne.     Returning,  we  pass 


WARWICK  CASTLE.  377 

tlirougli  a  long  gallery  filled  with  arms,  and  a 
private  chapel  used  by  the  members  of  the  family 
and  servants  of  the  castle. 

Among  the  objects  of  interest  in  the  park  is  a 
large  antique  marble  vase,  twenty-one  feet  in  cir- 
cumference, found  in  the  ruins  of  Hadrian' s  villa 
at  Tivoli,  in  Italy,  the  same  place  where  the 
famous  Yenus  de  Medici  was  discovered.  In  the 
park  also  are  many  fine  cedars  of  Lebanon,  some 
of  which  are  said  to  have  been  brought  from  Pal- 
estine by  the  Crusaders  hundreds  of  years  ago. 

Two  or  three  miles  from  Warwick  we  come  to 
Leamington,  famous,  like  Bath,  for  its  medicinal 
waters  and  its  concentration  of  wealth  and 
fashion.  It  is  beautifully  situated,  has  fine, 
broad  streets,  and  hundreds  of  elegant  villas  in 
great  variety  of  architectural  design.  In  the 
upper  part  of  the  town  stands  a  large  oak  tree, 
surrounded  by  an  iron  fence,  which  the  natives 
assure  us  has  been  demonstrated  to  be  the  exact 
geographical  center  of  England. 

Three  or  four  miles  still  farther  on  is  Kenil- 
worth,  the  seat  of  the  castle  of  that  name,  immortal- 
ized in  Walter  Scott's  novel,  Kenil worth.  It  is  a 
stately  ruin.  One  portion  called  Caesar's  tower, 
dating  from  about  A.  D.  1100,  is  an  immense 
square,  bastioned  stronghold,  with  walls  sixteen" 
feet  in  thickness,  yet  notwithstanding  this  pro- 
digious strength  only  three  sides  remain  stand- 


378  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

ing.  At  the  farther  end  of  the  court-yard  are  the 
roofless  walls  of  the  great  hall,  which  no  doubt 
Queen  Elizabeth  graced  with  her  presence,  and 
which  in  its  perfection  must  have  been  a  very- 
beautiful  structure.  The  doors  and  lofty  win- 
dows are  of  the  best  periods  of  Gothic  art  and 
some  rich  sculpture  still  remains.  Another  por- 
tion of  the  castle,  known  as  Leicester's  tower, 
evidently  once  contained  several  palatial  suites  of 
apartments,  with  pleasant  bay  and  oriel  windows, 
and  fire-places,  the  carved  mantels  of  which  still 
remain.  Altogether,  Kenilworth  castle  is  a  very 
extensive  and  interesting  ruin  and  well  worth  a 
visit,  especially  if  one  is  posted  in  its  historical 
associations.  For  the  greater  part  of  its  existence 
it  has  belonged  to  the  crown,  but  has  frequently 
been  given  to  royal  favorites.  Thus  Queen  Eliza- 
beth bestowed  it  upon  Robert  Dudley,  Earl  of 
Leicester,  who,  readers  of  English  history  will 
recollect,  was  vain  enough  to  aspire  to  the  hand 
of  his  royal  mistress,  and  to  gain  that  end  was 
accessory  to  the  putting  out  of  the  way  of  his 
secretly  married  but  lawful  wife,  the  fair  Amy 
Robsart.  The  whole  story  is  entertainingly  told 
in  Walter  Scott' s  Kenilworth. 

Next  we  come  to  Coventry,  a  large  and  busy 
manufacturing  town,  famous  for  its  ribbons.  It  is 
also  a  place  of  rare  antiquarian  interest.  It  pos- 
sesses two  very  large  and  fine  old  churches,  St. 


COVENTRY.  379 

Michael's  being  almost  a  cathedral  in  size.  Both 
were  built  between  the  eleventh  and  fourteenth 
centi;ries,  and  from  the  soft  character  of  the 
material  of  which  they  are  constructed — the  red 
sandstone  that  so  abounds  throughout  England, 
are  so  badly  weatherworn  as  to  present  the  most 
ancient  appearance  of  any  churches  I  saw  in  my 
travels.  Close  by  is  St.  Mary's  hall,  built  of  the 
same  stone,  with  ceiling  of  oak,  the  latter  being 
as  black  as  ebony,  from  age.  The  hall  was  built 
in  1397 — nearly  a  century  before  the  discovery  of 
America  by  Columbus.  It  contains  many  por- 
traits of  royal  personages,  some  ancient  tapestries 
made  by  the  nuns  of  Coventry,  and  a  throne  of 
carved  oak,  as  dark  as  the  ceiling,  used  by  Henry 
VI.  and  his  queen  upon  one  occasion  when  they 
held  a  parliament  in  Coventry.  At  the  time  of 
our  visit  to  St.  Mary's  hall,  one  hundred  and 
thirty  old  men  were  just  being  paid  a  weekly  dole 
of  four  or  six  shillings  each,  in  accordance  with  a 
provision  made  some  centuries  ago  by  a  charitable 
citizen  of  the  place  who  left  lands  for  the  purpose. 
As  the  value  and  rental  of  the  lands  increase  the 
number  of  recipients  is  gradually  enlarged.  They 
were  a  very  respectable  looking  lot  of  old  gen- 
tlenien.  By  another  ancient  bequest  a  certain 
number  of  loaves  of  bread  are  distributed  to  as 
many  poor  people  each  Sunday  morning  in  the 
porch  of  St.  Michael's  church. 


380  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

Coventry  also  contains  a  great  number  of  very 
old  houses,  many  of  them  very  curious  and  pic- 
turesque, with  their  carved  timber  framework 
and  overhanging  upper  stories,  such  as  were  so 
fashionable  in  Queen  Elizabeth's  time. 

Did  the  reader  ever  hear  of  Lady  Godiva? 
Well,  as  the  story  goes,  a  good  many  centuries 
ago  there  lived  in  Coventry  a  tyrannical  old  earl 
named  Leofric  and  his  beautiful  wife,  Godiva. 
The  earl  greatly  oppressed  the  people  of  Coven- 
try, who  were  all  his  tenants,  or  perhaps,  more 
correctly  speaking,  serfs.  In  their  misery  they 
appealed  to  the  tender-hearted  Godiva,  who 
interceded  with  Leofric  in  their  behalf.  The 
monster  at  length  consented  to  lighten  the  bur- 
den of  the  townspeople,  but  on  the  one  condition 
that  Godiva  should  ride  in  mid- day  through  the 
town  in  a  state  of  entire  nudity.  Of  course  he 
supposed  she  would  not  comply  with  the  terms, 
but  the  plucky  woman  was  bent  on  accomplishing 
her  mission  at  whatever  cost,  and  ride  she  did, 
and  thereby  earned  for  all  time  the  gratitude  and 
worship  of  the  people  of  Coventry.  One  chroni- 
cler relates  that  the  ride  was  taken  on  a  market 
day  when  the  streets  were  crowded  with  people ; 
but  popular  tradition  has  it  that  an  order  was 
previously  given  for  the  people  to  stay  indoors 
and  keep  their  blinds  tightly  closed;  and  it 
further  adds  that  one  curious  individual  who  did 


LADY  GODIVA.  381 

venture  to  look  out  was  immediately  struck  blind. 
He  is  known  as  Peeping  Tom,  and  his  effigy, 
leaning  out  of  a  third-story  window  at  a  promi- 
nent street  corner,  with  eyes  strained  to  their 
utmost,  has  long  been  a  conspicuous  landmark  of 
Coventry.  Until  within  the  last  few  years  there 
was  an  annual  festival  in  Lady  Godiva'  s  honor, 
one  of  the  features  of  which  was  a  grand  proces- 
sion through  the  streets,  led  by  a  woman  on  horse- 
back dressed  in  flesh  colored  tights.  The  last 
such  show  took  place  in  1878. 

Birmingham  is  the  fourth  largest  place  in  Great 
Britain,  and  boasts  a  i^opulation  of  about  four 
hundred  thousand.  It  has  fine  streets,  elegant 
stone  buildings,  splendid  shops,  fine  public  edi- 
fices, and  altogether  is  an  attractive  place  to  visit. 
It  is  comparatively  a  modern  city,  and  has  no 
historical  associations.  It  is  famous  for  its  manu- 
facture of  hardware,  steel  pens,  bronze  and  brass 
work,  fire-arms.  Jewelry,  pins,  buttons,  machi- 
nery, and  many  other  products  of  metal,  and  has 
long  enjoyed  the  cognomen  of  *'the  Toy  Shop  of 
Europe."  One  of  the  lions  of  Birmingham  is  its 
Town  Hall,  a  fine  Grecian  structure,  seating 
between  two  thousand  and  three  thousand  people, 
and  furnished  with  an  immense  organ,  upon 
which  a  free  organ  recital  is  given  every  Saturday 
afternoon,  whereby  a  popular  taste  for  music  is 
cultivated.      It  was  in  Birmingham  that   Rev. 


882  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

Jolin  Angell  James,  the  great  congregational 
preacher  and  author  of  various  religious  books, 
lived  and  labored  in  the  early  part  of  the  cen- 
tury. We  attended  services  one  Sunday  evening 
at  Carr's  Lane  chapel,  erected  by  this  earnest 
man  in  1819.  It  is  a  large,  plain,  brick  building 
with  broad  galleries  extending  around  three  sides, 
and  high  old-fashioned  pews,  over  the  tops  of 
which  only  the  worshipers'  heads  can  be  seen. 
The  organ  is  raised  slightly  above  the  floor  at  the 
rear  of  the  octagonal  pulpit,  which  stands  out  a 
little  way  into  the  body  of  the  church  and  is  sur- 
rounded by  high  seats  for  the  choir  of  forty  or 
fifty  voices.  There  are  numerous  memorial  tab- . 
lets  on  the  walls.  The  church  is  now  served  by 
the  Kev.  E.  W.  Dale.  The  services  on  this  occa- 
sion began  with  a  seven  verse  hymn,  a  long  chap- 
ter from  the  Old  Testament,  an  anthem  by  the 
choir,  a  long  prayer,  a  hymn  of  six  verses,  a 
chapter  from  the  New  Testament,  another  long 
prayer  and  another  hymn — the  entire  opening 
services  occupying  little  short  of  an  hour.  Then 
came  an  earnest  extempore  sermon  of  fifty  min- 
utes, and  a  closing  hymn  and  prayer. 

From  Stratford-on-Avon  to  Birmingham  we 
have  been  altogether  in  the  county  of  Warwick- 
shire, a  beautiful  portion  of  England,  and  one 
inhabited  by  as  courteous  and  i^olite  a  people  as 
are  anywhere  to  be  found. 


THE  BLACK  COUNTRY.  383 

Birmingham  is  situated  on  the  border  line 
between  Warwickshire  and  Staffordshire.  North- 
west of  it,  in  Staffordshire,  stretches  away  for 
twenty  miles  the  famous  "Black  Country,"  so 
called  because  in  all  that  region  there  is  scarcely 
a  field,  tree,  or  blade  of  grass — nothing  but  coal 
mines,  iron  furnaces,  rolling  mills,  railway  tracks, 
canals,  rows  of  dusty  dwelling  houses  for  the 
laborers,  with  great  heaps  of  ashes  and  cinders 
for  scenery.  The  contrast  between  the  approach 
to  Birmingham  on  the  one  side  and  the  departure 
from  it  on  the  other  is  very  striking. 

I  enjoyed  a  short  chat  with  a  very  agreeable 
and  intelligent  Birmingham  manufacturer.  He, 
in  common  with  his  class,  bewails  the  hard  lot  of 
England  in  working  out  the  free  trade  problem 
single-handed  and  alone,  and  admitting  freely  the 
products  of  other  countries,  while  her  own  pro- 
ducts are  excluded  from  their  markets.  Still  he 
concedes  that  the  free  trade  theory  is  the  correct 
one,  and  confesses  that  notwithstanding  the  dis- 
advantages under  which  England  labors  in  this 
respect,  she  was  never  more  prosperous  than  at 
present.  Money  is  abundant  and  cheap,  profits 
are  not  to  be  complained  of,  and  wages  in  most 
branches  of  manufacture  are  satisfactory.  The 
gentleman  alluded  to  had  visited  America 
recently.  "Yours  is  the  dearest  country  in  the 
world,"  he  remarked.     "A  dollar  scarcely  goes 


384  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

farther  with  you  than  a  shilling  with  ns.  Your 
protective  system  is  putting  some  money  into  the 
pockets  of  your  manufacturers,  but  at  a  tremen- 
dous cost  to  the  public  at  large,  who  pay  double 
prices  for  everything  they  consume."  N^o  doubt 
he  was  right,  and  America  would  be  richer  and 
our  people  individually  better  off  were  we  to  fol- 
low England's  example,  and  emancipate  trade 
from  the  barbarous  mediaeval  restrictions  which, 
in  contempt  of  the  teachings  of  science  and  the 
spirit  of  the  age,  we  continue  to  hamper  it  with. 
Some  fifteen  miles  north  of  Birmingham  is  the 
city  of  Lichfield,  a  quiet  little  country  place  of 
about  seven  thousand  inhabitants.  Only  cathe- 
dral towns  are  called  cities  in  England,  and  thus 
the  rustic  little  Lichfield  is  a  city  while  Birming- 
ham, with  its  four  hundred  thousand  inhabitants, 
is  only  a  town.  Lichfield  cathedral  is  only  of 
medium  size,  thirteen  of  the  twenty-four  English 
cathedrals  being  larger,  and  ten  smaller,  but  it  is 
one  of  the  most  perfect.  It  is  purely  Gothic,  and 
its  erection  covered  the  period  between  1150  and 
1350.  Its  chief  peculiarity  is  its  three  beautiful 
stone  spires.  The  church  suffered  severely  at  the 
hands  of  Cromwell's  army,  and  its  central  spire 
was  entirely  destroyed  by  their  batteries,  but  at 
the  restoration  it  too  was  thoroughly  restored, 
and  is  now  undergoing  a  still  further  restoration, 
Lichfield  is  another  instance  of  the  nave  and  choir 


LICHFIELD  CATHEDRAL.  385 

not  being  in  a  right  line  with  each  other :  and  here 
another  explanation  is  given  of  the  eccentricity, 
differing  from  the  one  given  at  Bristol.  A  gentle- 
man connected  with  the  cathedral  is  strongly  of 
the  opinion  that  taste  in  architecture  was  more 
highly  developed  at  the  period  when  these  bent 
churches  were  erected  than  at  any  time  since,  and 
that  the  deflection  was  made  purely  with  aesthetic 
purpose.  The  effect  in  looking  down  the  nave  of 
one  of  these  churches  is  certainly  greatly  height- 
ened by  the  deflection,  for  on  one  side  at  least  the 
entire  range  of  columns  and  arches  is  brought 
into  the  perspective,  while  in  a  perfectly  straight 
edifice  the  more  distant  arches  are  lost  in  a  con- 
fused jumble.  I  was  inclined  to  favor  this  latter 
theory,  but  there  is  still  another  peculiarity  in 
these  old  churches  not  so  easily  accounted  for. 
In  many  of  them,  including  Lichfield,  but  princi- 
pally in  the  churches  of  IN'orman  style,  the  col- 
umns and  arches  of  the  nave  incline  outward  as  if 
spread  by  being  imperfectly  anchored  together  at 
the  top.  But,  with  the  immense  thickness  of  the 
walls  of  most  of  the  Norman  churches,  and  the 
absence  of  cracks  that  would  indicate  a  giving 
way,  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  they  were  not 
originally  built  as  we  see  them.  In  the  case  of 
St.  James's  church  at  Bristol,  the  columns  not 
only  incline  outward,  but  to  an  even  greater 
degree  backward  from  the  chancel,  so  as  to  have, 

25 


386  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

in  nautical  parlance,  quite  a  rakish  appearance. 
The  west  or  front  wall  also  overhangs  several 
feet,  but  nowhere  is  there  any  indication  of  its 
having  shifted  into  that  position.  The  intelligent 
sexton  of  St.  James's  was  of  the  opinion  that  the 
^N'ormans  were  unacquainted  with  the  use  of  the 
plumb  rule,  but  my  Lichfield  friend  would  have 
it  that  this  too  was  a  matter  of  taste,  and  not  of 
accident.  In  the  fine  old  churches  of  Stratford- 
on-Avon,  and  St.  Michael's,  Coventry,  the  de- 
flected choir  or  chancel  is  very  strongly  markejd. 

Lichfield  Cathedral  has  a  number  of  very 
beautiful  modern  tombs  and  monuments,  which 
enjoy  a  freedom  from  dust  and  dirt  that  would 
astonish  a  Londoner,  but  none  of  any  personages 
in  whom  my  readers  would  be  likely  to  feel  an 
interest,  unless  it  be  two  marble  busts  of  Johnson 
and  Garrick,  erected  to  their  memory  in  one  of 
the  transepts.  The  Dean  of  Lichfield  is  Rev. 
Edward  H.  Bickersteth,  the  well  known  poet, 
the  author  of  "Yesterday,  To-day,  and  For- 
ever," and  other  works. 

Lichfield  was  the  birthplace  of  Dr.  Samuel 
Johnson,  the  lexil^ographer  and  literary  autocrat 
of  the  last  century,  and  the  house  in  which  he 
v^as  born  in  1709  is  still  standing  on  a  corner 
facing  the  market  place.  In  front  of  it  has  been 
erected  a  colossal  marble  statue  of  the  great  man. 
It  was  while  living  in  this  house  that  Johnson's 


DR.  JOHNSON.  387 

father,  who  was  a  peripatetic  bookseller,  once 
desired  his  sen  to  attend  his  book  stall  on  the  mar- 
ket of  Uttoxeter,  a  town  a  few  miles  distant,  when 
himself  confined  at  home  by  sickness,  a  duty  which 
the  young  man  as  a  matter  of  pride  declined  to 
perform.  In  after  life,  oppressed  with  remorse 
at  his  undutiful  conduct  on  this  occasion,  he 
imposed  as  a  penance  on  himself  the  standing 
bareheaded  for  a  whole  day  in  Uttoxeter  market 
place  exposed  to  the  inclemency  of  the  weather 
and  the  gibes  of  the  rabble.  The  incident  is  com- 
memorated by  an  indifferent  bas-relief  on  the 
base  of  the  monument. 

Leaving  Lichfield,  we  journey  northward  to 
Lincoln,  passing  through  Burton-on-Trent,  the 
greatest  ale-brewing  place  in  the  world,  !N"otting- 
ham,  the  famous  lace  manufacturing  town,  and 
Derby. 


CHAPTER  XXXYIIL 

LINCOLN— HULI^BEVERLEY— YORK-  RIPON—  FOUNTAINS   ABBEY 
—DURHAM- THE  VENERABLE  BEDE-LINDISFARNE. 

INCOLN,  the  capital  of  the  large  eastern 
county  of  Lincolnshire,  is  a  rural  place  of 
twenty  or  twenty-five  thousand  inhabit- 
ants. It  is  situated  on  high  ground,  but  is  sur- 
rounded by  a  flat,  level  country.  On  the  summit 
of  the  hill  stands  the  cathedral,  one  of  the  largest 
in  England,  being  five  hundred  and  seventeen  feet 
long.  It  was  built  in  the  twelfth  century,  and  is 
a  good  example  of  the  Early  English  Gothic  style. 
About  1280  the  choir  was  extended  eastward  in 
the  decorated  style,  of  which  it  is  also  a  very 
beautiful  example.  In  the  western  front  may 
be  seen  some  remains  of  the  original  Norman 
church,  built  eight  hundred  years  ago.  'No  addi- 
tions or  changes  have  been  made  in  the  building 
since  1482.  Lincoln  cathedral  is  easily  remem- 
bered by  its  three  lofty  square  towers,  the  one  at 
the  intersection  of  the  nave  and  transept  being 
two  hundred  and  seventy  feet  high.  It  is  a  noble 
church,  but  has  no  particular  associations  inter- 
esting to  an  American.  The  only  tomb  I  noticed 
worth  mentioning  was  that  of  Elizabeth  Penrose, 


HULL.  .  389 

antlior  of  the  Markham's  History  of  England, 
commonly  nsed  in  our  schools,  the  name  Mark- 
ham  being  a  nom  de  plume. 

From  Lincoln  we  hasten  on  to  Hnll,  the  third 
seaport  in  England  in  respect  of  importance.  It 
is  a  place  of  about  one  hundred  and  sixty 
thousand  inhabitants,  on  the  river  Humber,  near 
its  mouth,  and  it  has  extensive  docks  and  a 
large  foreign  trade,  but  chiefly  with  the  Dutch 
and  Danish  ports  just  across  the  North  sea.  Its 
full  name  is  Kingston-on-Hull,  the  Hull  being  the 
name  of  a  smaller  river  that  joins  the  Humber  at 
this  point.  Besides  its  shipping  interest,  it  is 
largely  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  linseed  and 
cotton  seed  oils.  It  is  interesting  as  being  the 
birthplace  of  William  Wilberf orce,  through  whose 
efforts  slavery  was  abolished  in  the  British  colo- 
nies on  the  first  of  August,  1834.  A  tall  column, 
surmounted  by  a  statue  of  the  philanthropist,  has 
been  erected  to  his  memory.  The  house  in  which 
he  was  born  is  still  in  existence,  but  is  now  used 
for  offices. 

The  Pole  family,  of  which  Cardinal  Reginald 
Pole,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  during  Queen 
Mary's  reign,  was  a  member,  were  also  residents 
of  Hull. 

Twelve  miles  north  of  Hull  is  the  town  of 
Beverley,  famous  for  a  parish  church  known  as 
Beverley  Minster,  in  size  and  stateliness  quite  the 


390  ^FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

peer  of  many  of  the  cathedrals.  The  church  was 
originally  founded  about  the  year  700,  and  the 
existing  church,  which  is  kept  in  excellent  repair^ 
is  about  seven  hundred  years  old.  Beverley 
Minster  is  celebrated  for  the  quaint  wood  carv- 
ings with  which  its  interior  fittings  are  orna- 
mented. 

From  Beverley  we  proceed  to  York,  the  seat  of 
one  of  the  two  archbishoprics  of  England.  There 
is  nothing  remarkable  about  the  place  except  its 
old  wall,  which  is  kept  in  good  repair,  and  the 
summit  of  which  forms  a  pleasant  promenade,  its 
ruined  abbey,  and  its  cathedral,  the  latter  reputed 
the  largest  in  England.  I  must  own,  however^ 
to  being  rather  disappointed  in  it,  it  nowhere 
approaching  in  beauty  and  interest  either  Lin- 
coln, Lichfield  or  Worcester  cathedrals.  Its 
wooden  vaulting,  so  constructed  because  its  walls 
were  not  strong  enough  to  bear  the  weight  of  stone, 
is  a  great  defect,  and  in  1829  came  near  causing 
the  entire  destruction  of  the  church.  In  that 
year  an  insane  man  named  Martin  secreted  him- 
self in  the  church,  and  in  the  dead  of  night 
kindled  a  huge  bonfire  of  the  books  and  benches 
just  in  the  vicinity  of  the  organ  and  choir  stalls. 
The  flames  spread  to  the  roof  of  the  choir,  which 
was  entirely  destroyed.  Luckily  the  rest  of  the 
church  was  saved.  In  the  crypt  under  the  nave 
may  be  seen  some  remains  of    an    old    Saxon 


YORK  MINSTER  391 

churcli  built  twelve  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago, 
and  also  the  bases  of  the  finely  sculptured  col- 
umns of  a  later  Norman  church,  which  next  occu- 
pied the  site.  The  present  edifice  was  erected 
between  1220  and  1470— too  late  for  the  best 
period  of  Gothic  art.  It  is  rather  famous  for  its 
windows,  some  of  which  are  of  immense  size  and 
mostly  filled  with  antique  glass.  The  great  east 
window  is  thirty-two  by  seventy-seven  feet  in 
size,  and  its  glass  dates  from  1408.  I  observed  no 
very  remarkable  tombs  in  the  cathedral,  unless  it 
were  that  of  the  wife  of  a  professor  of  theology 
who,  as  the  Latin  inscription  states,  died  in  her 
thirty-eighth  year  and  after  her  twenty-fourth 
confinement. 

The  city  wall  extends  almost  entirely  around 
the  city.  It  is  six  or  eight  feet  thick  and  from 
ten  to  twenty-five  feet  high,  according  as  the 
ground  is  elevated  or  depressed.  Its  summit  is 
finished  with  large  fiag  stones  and  it.  has  a  para- 
pet about  four  feet  high  with  embrasures  at  inter- 
vals along  the  outer  edge.  The  inner  side  of  the 
promenade  that  runs  along  the  top  is  unprotected. 
The  wall  does  not  follow  straight  lines  or  uniform 
curves,  but  jogs  in  and  out  in  a  very  irregular 
manner.  There  are  several  imposing  gateways 
with  towers,  barbicans,  loopholes,  and  every  other 
means  of  ancient  defense.  The  city,  which  now 
contains  about  forty  thousand  inhabitants,  has 


892  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

spread  to  a  considerable  extent  beyond  the  walls. 
York  has  a  sleepy  and  old-fashioned  air  and, 
from  the  dirty  colored  brick  with  which  it  is 
mainly  built,  wears  rather  a  gloomy  appearance. 
It  has  an  old  castle  to  which  modern  additions 
have  been  added  from  time  to  time,  and  which 
serves  for  a  court  house  and  county  offices.  It 
will  be  remembered  as  the  scene  of  the  trial  in 
Warren's  incomparable  novel  ''Ten  Thousand  a 
Year." 

Tradition  has  always  asserted  that  the  Koman 
emperor  Constantine  the  Great  was  born  in  York, 
A.  D.  274.  In  recent  times  it  was  the  home  of 
George  Hudson  the  linen  draper  who,  about 
thirty-five  years  ago,  threw  down  his  yard-stick 
and  made  himself  the  railroad  king  of  Britain. 
Railroads  were  made  or  ruined  according  as  he 
accepted  their  presidency  or  refused  the  same. 
In  a  short  time  he  made  an  immense  fortune,  but 
soon  after,  when  reaction  and  panic  seized  the 
railway  share  market,  he  became  the  scapegoat 
for  the  unwisdom  of  the  period,  and  died  at  last 
miserably  poor. 

From  York  we  journey  to  Ripon,  twenty-five 
miles  west,  passing  en  route  Knaresborough,  the 
location  of  the  famous  dripping  well  which  in  a 
year  or  two  petrifies  any  object  brought  in  con- 
tact with  its  waters.  Ripon  is  the  seat  of  a  bish- 
opric,   and  has   an  interesting  little   cathedral, 


HIPON  CATHEDRAL.  393 

built  in  large  part  in  the  latest  ISTorman  and  very- 
earliest  Gothic  style.  Its  transition  architecture 
is  indeed  quite  unique,  and  in  its  stalls  it  boasts 
the  finest  wood  carving  in  England.  The  subjects 
of  some  of  these  carvings  are  very  curious ;  as, 
for  instance,  Punch  (Pontius  Pilate)  trundling 
Judy  (Judas  Iscariot)  in  a  wheelbarrow  to  Hades ; 
a  big  pig  playing  the  bagpipes  and  two  little  pigs 
dancing  to  the  music  ;  a  fox  in  a  pulpit  preaching 
to  two  roosters,  and  many  other  like  grotesque 
subjects,  all  of  which,  in  the  minds  of  the  monk- 
ish designers,  were,  no  doubt,  thought  to  convey 
useful  lessons.  About  four  centuries  ago  the 
central  tower  fell  and  crushed  one  side  of  the 
choir,  which  was  thereupon  rebuilt  in  an  entirely 
different  style  from  the  corresponding  wall  oppo- 
site, and  we  thus  have  the  architectural  curiosity 
of  a  church  with  one  side  of  Early  English  Gothic 
the  other  of  Perpendicular,  a  style  of  three 
hundred  years  later.  The  chapter  house  is  of 
early  Norman  work,  fully  eight  hundred  years 
old,  and  under  the  church  is  a  rude  Saxon  chapel 
affirmed  to  be  twelve  hundred  and  fifty  years  old. 
The  latter  is  a  small  room  perhaps  ten  feet  wide 
and  fifteen  long,  arched  over  at  the  top,  and  all 
of  stone.  It  was  probably  only  designed  for  pri- 
vate devotions.  Its  most  curious  feature  is  a  hole 
about  sixteen  inches  square  penetrating  a  massive 
wall  on  one  side  and  connecting  with  a  passage 


394  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

way  behind,  the  use  of  wMch  hole,  known  as  St. 
Wilfred's  Needle,  is  thus  described :  In  the  olden 
time,  when  a  woman  went  to  confess,  if  the  priest 
doubted  her  truthfulness  he  required  her  to  creep 
through  the  hole.  If  she  had  been  chaste,  she 
got  through  easily  enough ;  if  otherwise,  she 
stuck  fast.  In  modern  t'imes  the  suiters tition  has 
grown  up  that  the  woman  who  passes  through  St. 
Wilfred's  Needle  will  be  married  within  a  year, 
and  the  verger  assured  us  that  it  is  no  uncom- 
mon thing  for  twenty  females  a  day  to  be  dragged 
through.  Certain  it  is  that  the  sides  of  the  hole 
are  highly  polished  by  the  centuries  of  attrition 
with  female  garments.  The  verger  tells  of  one 
young  lady  who,  having  passed  through  the  Nee- 
dle, received  an  offer  of  marriage  three  days 
after,  and  forthwith  brought  her  sister,  that  she 
might  shar^  her  good  fortune. 

Two  miles  from  Ripon  is  the  celebrated  ruin 
known  as  Fountains  Abbey,  probably  one  of  the 
most  extensive  monastic  ruins  in  England.  The 
abbey  buildings  are  said  to  have  formerly  cov- 
ered twelve  acres.  It  is  one  of  a  great  number  of 
such  ruins  scattered  over  England.  These  abbeys 
were  generally  of  great  antiquity,  some,  as  in  the 
case  of  Fountains,  dating  from  the  early  jDart  of 
the  twelfth  century.  They  generally  consisted  of 
an  extensive  group  of  massive  stone  buildings,  in 
the  erection    of    which   much  delicate  art  was 


ANCIENT  ABBEYS.  395 

expended.  At  the  Reformation  the  abbeys  were 
dissolved,  the  monks  turned  adrift  in  the  world, 
and  the  property  first  confiscated  to  the  crown 
and  then  sold  or  granted  to  various  royal  favor- 
ites. To  their  new  owners  the  buildings  were 
often  useless,  unless  for  the  material  they  con- 
tained, which  might  be  re-employed  in  the  con- 
struction of  more  convenient  abodes.  *  They  hence 
for  some  generations  became  the  stone  quarries 
for  the  neighborhood.  If  a  load  of  stone  was 
wanted  for  any  purpose  the  abbey  was  resorted 
to,  and  fine  old  clustered  columns  and  richly 
muUioned  windows  would  be  ruthlessly  battered 
down  to  .supply  it.  Roofless  and  exposed  to  the 
weather,  they  soon  became  overgrown  with  ivy, 
the  insinuating  roots  and  tendrils  of  which  disin- 
tegrated the  stone  work,  and  furthered  the  work 
of  decay.  In  this  deplorable  condition  they  were 
found  by  the  art-appreciating  nineteenth  century, 
and  for  the  last  two  generations  as  much  zeal  has 
been  expended  in  the  care  and  preservation  of 
these  old  ecclesiastical  remains  as  formerly  had 
been  in  their  destruction.  They  usually  form  the 
center  of  attraction  of  some  nobleman's  park, 
having  been  carefully  explored  by  expert  archae- 
ologists, dangerous  places  strengthened,  frag- 
ments set  up  in  something  near  their  old  posi- 
tions, and  a  continual  guard  kept  over  them  to 
prevent  the  slightest  acts  of  renewed  vandalism. 


396  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

Within  and  without  the  walls,  the  ground  is  cov- 
ered with  a  soft,  green  turf,  which  contrasts  very 
prettily  with  the  grey  stone  of  the  edifice,  and 
and  the  blue  sky  above,  which  forms  the  only 
roof. 

At  Fountains,  as  in  all  these  old  abbeys,  the 
church  is  the  central  and  principal  building.  It 
is  cruciform  in  shape,  with  a  lofty  square  tower 
rising  at  the  extremity  of  the  northern  transept 
to  the  hight  of  a  hundred  and  sixty-eight  feet. 
The  church  is  in  the  Norman  style,  with  massive 
round  columns  and  semi-circular  arches,  except 
where  at  a  later  period  alterations  and  additions 
were  carried  out  in  the  Early  English  Gothic. 
The  Lady  chapel,  or  extension  eastward,  is  pecul- 
iar, in  forming  as  it  does  a  second  transept,  or  T, 
to  the  choir.  The  same  existed  originally  in  Lin- 
coln Cathedral,  and  still  exists  in  Durham,  and 
seems  to  have  been  a  favorite  style  in  the  north- 
ern part  of  England  at  the  end  of  the  twelfth  and 
beginning  of  the  thirteenth  centuries.  Along 
the  eastern  wall  of  this  terminal  transept  were 
arranged  five,  seven,  or  nine  altars,  dedicated  to 
as  many  different  saints.  This  portion  of  Foun- 
tains Abbey  is  in  the  pointed  style,  and  must 
have  been  exceedingly  beautiful.  The  other 
buildings  of  the  abbey,  judging  from  the  founda- 
tion walls  which  remain,  were  very  extensive. 
They  comprise  cloisters  about  three  hundred  feet 


FOUNTAINS  ABBEY.  397 

in  length,  witli  dormitories  on  the  floor  above, 
an  immense  refectory  or  dining  hall,  a  kitchen 
with  two  fire-places  each  sixteen  feet  wide  from 
jamb  to  jamb  and  six  feet  deep,  a  chapter  house 
for  the  business  meetings  of  the  monastery,  with 
a  library  and  scriptorium,  or  writing  room,  on 
the  floor  above,  a  hospitium  or  guest-house,  a 
house  for  the  abbot,  with  a  great  hall  rivaling  in 
magnitude  those  of  the  proudest  barons,  a  dun- 
geon for  criminals,  for  the  abbot  also  exercised 
civil  jurisdiction  over  the  surrounding  country; 
and  a  great  many  other  buildings  of  which  the 
uses  are  not  clearly  apparent.  The  abbey,  orig- 
inally founded  in  1132  by  an  order  of  monks 
more  ascetic  than  the  Benedictines,  seems  early 
to  have  become  rich,  powerful  and  luxurious. 
We  are  told  that  the  abbey  possessed  sixty 
thousand  acres  of  land  all  in  one  body,  besides 
other  property.  The  dissolution  took  place  in 
1539,  and  the  estates  were  sold  by  Henry  YIII. 
for  what  would  to-day  be  a  merely  nominal  sum, 
to  the  ancestors  of  the  present  owner,  the  Marquis 
of  Ripon. 

From  Ripon  we  continue  our  journey  north- 
ward to  Durham,  passing  on  our  way  through 
Darlington,  a  large  manufacturing  town  famous 
as  one  of  the  termini  of  the  first  railroad  ever 
built  for  general  traflic,  viz.,  the  Stockton  and 
Darlington,  constructed  by  George  Stephenson, 
and  opened  in  1825. 


398  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

Durham  is  a  beautifully  situated  little  city  on 
the  sides  of  the  hills  which  rise  from  the  river 
Wear,  the  tops  of  which  are  crowned  by  the  castle 
and  cathedral.  The  see  of  Durham  was  formerly 
one  of  the  richest  in  England  and  yielded  its 
bishop  an  income  of  about  $200,000  a  year,  but 
latterly  the  revenues  of  the  bishoprics  have  been 
to  some  extent  equalized,  and  his  lordship  of 
Durham  now  has  to  struggle  along  with  $40,000 
a  year.  Durham  is  one  of  the  oldest,  best  pre- 
served and  most  interesting  of  the  English  cathe- 
drals. It  was  built  about  the  year  1090  in  tha 
most  highly  developed  Norman  style,  and  is 
much  more  highly  ornamented  than  most  of  the 
Norman  churches  we  had  previously  seen.  The 
walls  are  of  great  strength,  and  the  entire  build- 
ing is  vaulted  with  stone.  About  the  year  1250 
an  eastern  transept,  similar  to  that  described  in 
connection  with  Fountains  Abbey,  and  known  as 
the  Nine  Chapels,  was  added  in  the  Early  Eng- 
lish style ;  and,  with  the  exception  of  the  central 
tower  and  here  and  there  a  window  inserted  at  a 
later  date  in  the  Perpendicular  style,  the  edifice 
remains  as  its  thirteenth  century  builders  left  it. 
Its  two  western  towers  are  very  fine  specimens  of 
the  Norman- Gothic  transition  period. 

Durham  Cathedral  is  famous  as  the  burial  place 
of  two  Saxon  worthies  whose  works  and  fame 
have  survived  a  thousand  years.     These  are  St. 


THE  VENERABLE  BEDE.  399 

Cuthbert,  of  Lindisfarne,  and  the  Venerable  Bede, 
the  ecclesiastical  historian  of  the  Saxon  period. 
The  latter  died  in  the  eighth  century  and  his 
remains  were  brought  to  Durham  in  the  thir- 
teenth. His  tomb,  a  plain  slab  of  stone,  bears 
this  inscription : 

•  'Hac  sunt  ia  fossa  Bmdm  Venerabilis  ossa," 

Green,  in  his  ''  History  of  the  English  People," 
gives  a  touching  account  of  the  death  scene  of 
this  holy  man.  ^'  Two  weeks  before  the  Easter  of 
755  the  old  man  was  seized  with  an  extreme  weak- 
ness and  loss  of  breath.  He  still  preserved,  how- 
ever, his  usual  pleasantness  and  gay  good  humor, 
and  in  spite  of  prolonged  sleeplessness  continued 
his  lectures  to  the  pupils  about  him.  Verses  of 
his  own  English  tongue  broke  from  time  to  time 
from  the  master's  lips.  The  tears  of  Bede's 
scholars  mingled  with  his  song.  '  We  never  read 
without  weeping,'  writes  one  of  them.  So  the 
days  rolled  on  to  Ascension- tide  and  still  master 
and  pupils  toiled  at  their  work,  for  Bede  longed 
to  bring  to  an  end  his  version  of  St.  John's  gospel 
into  the  English  tongue,  and  his  extracts  from 
Bishop  Isidore.  'I  don't  want  my  boys  to  read 
a  lie,'  he  answered  those  who  would  have  had 
him  rest,  '  or  to  work  to  no  purpose  after  I  am 
gone.'  A  few  days  before  Ascension- tide  his 
sickness  grew  upon  him,  but  he  spent  the  whole 
day  in  teaching,  only  saying  cheerfully  to  his 


400  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

scholars,  '  Learn  with  what  speed  yon  may.  I 
know  not  how  long  I  may  last.'  The  dawn  broke 
upon  another  sleepless  night,  and.  again  the  old 
man  called  his  scholars  aronnd  him  and  bade 
them  write.  '  There  is  still  a  chapter  wanting,' 
said  the  scribe,  as  the  morning  drew  on,  '  and  it 
is  hard  for  thee  to  question  thyself  any  longer.' 
'  It  is  easily  done,'  said  Bede ;  '  take  thy  pen  and 
write  quickly.'  Amid  tears  and  farewells  the 
day  wore  on  to  even-tide.  'There  is  still  one 
sentence  unwritten,  dear  master,'  said  the  boy. 
'Write  it  quickly,'  bade  the  dying  man.  'It  is 
finished  now,'  said  the  little  scribe  at  last.  'You 
speak  truth,'  said  the  master;  'all  is  finished, 
now.'  Placed  upon  the  pavement,  his  head  sup- 
ported in  his  scholar's  arms,  his  face  turned 
to  the  spot  where  he  was  wont  to  pray,  Bede 
chanted  the  'Glory  to  God.'  As  his  voice  reached 
the  close  of  his  song  he  passed  quietly  away." 

St.  Cuthbert's  tomb,  in  the  rear  of  the  high 
altar,  was  formerly  enriched  with  a  magnificent 
shrine,  which,  however,  was  demolished  at  the 
Reformation. 

Durham  castle,  formerly  the  residence  of  the 
bishops  of  Durham,  is  now  used  for  the  college 
or  university  which  is  under  the  control  of  the 
diocesan  authorities. 

From  Durham  we  continue  northward,  passing 
Newcastle-on-Tyne,    one  of    the  greatest  centers 


NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE.  401 

of  English  coal  mining — whence  the  expression, 
when  articles  are  carried  to  a  place  where  they 
are  extensively  produced,  ''Carrying  coals  to 
Newcastle."  Near  the  border  line  between  Eng- 
land and  Scotland  we  are  in  full  view  of  the  North 
sea,  and  just  off  the  shore  catch  a  glimpse  of  Holy 
Island  and  the  site  of  the  Lindisfarne  of  St.  Cuth- 
bert.  A  little  farther  on  we  cross  the  Tweed,  the 
boundary  line  between  the  two  countries,  and  are 
in  the  old  town  of  Berwick-uiDon-Tweed,  pro- 
nounced Berrick.  The  terminal  "wick  "  is  an  old 
Saxon  word  meaning  harbor  or  port. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

EDINBURGH  — THE  NEW  AND  OLD  TOWNS— THE  CASTLE  — ST. 
GILES'  CATHEDRAL— JOHN  KNOX  — HOLYROOD  PALACE  — 
IMARY  QUEEN    OF   SCOTS   AND    HER   TRAGIC   CAREER. 

E  skirt  the  eastern  coast  of  Scotland  till 
the  Firth  of  Forth  is  reached,  then, 
trending  westerly,  follow  the  south  bank 
of  that  noble  estuary  till  near  Edinburgh.  The 
Scottish  capital  lies  south  of  the  Forth,  and  two 
or  three  miles  distant  from  it,  the  intervening 
space  being  a  level  plain.  On  the  nearest  bank 
of  the  river  is  the  port  of  Leith,  formerly  a  sepa- 
rate town,  but  now  quite  united  with  Edinburgh 
by  the  building  up  of  the  intermediate  space. 

Edinburgh  itself  is  built  on  two  parallel  ridges 
extending  east  and  west.  The  northern  ridge  or 
the  one  nearest  the  Forth,  rises  at  its  eastern 
extremity  into  a  lofty  eminence  known  as  Calton 
Hill.  The  southern  ridge  rises  similarly  at  its 
western  extremity,  which  is  surmounted  by  Edin- 
burgh Castle.  On  the  crest  and  sides  of  this 
ridge  stands  the  old  city  of  Edinburgh.  On  the 
northern  ridge  the  new  or  modern  city  has  been 
built.  The  valley  between,  contains  the  railway 
stations,  market  buildings,  and  pleasure  grounds 


CALTON  HILL.  403 

known  as  Princes  Street  Gardens.  The  two 
sections  of  the  city  are  connected  by  high  bridges 
spanning  the  valley.  The  southerly  or  castle 
ridge  slopes  down  gradually  from  the  castle 
until,  opposite  Calton  Hill,  it  is  altogether  lost  in 
the  lower  level  of  the  valley.  At  this  point 
stands  Holyrood  Palace.  Still  further  south,  but 
beyond  the  limits  of  the  city,  is  a  third  lofty 
ridge  known  as  Salisbury  Crags,  above  which 
towers  a  peak  eight  hundred  and  thirty  feet  high, 
known  as  Arthur's  Seat. 

Calton  Hill  forms  a  public  park,  and  commands 
a  magnificent  view,  both  of  the  city  and  sur- 
rounding country  with  its  background  of  distant 
mountains.  On  the  top  of  the  hill  are  several 
monumental  structures,  including  a  tall  tower  to 
the  memory  of  Lord  Nelson  ;  small  Grecian  tem- 
ples to  Burns  the  poet,  Playfair  the  mathemati- 
cian, and  Dugald  Stewart,  a  philosophical  writer ; 
and  an  unfinished  copy  of  the  Athenian  Parthe- 
non, intended  as  a  memorial  of  the  battle  of 
Waterloo.  The  funds,  however,  ran  out  when 
only  the  front  colonnade  had  been  completed,  and 
work  stopped  short  at  that  point. 

On  the  ridge  extending  westward  from  Calton 
Hi]l  stands  what  is  called  the  New  town,  which 
is,  without  exception,  one  of  the  finest  cities  in 
Europe.  The  streets  are  broad,  well  paved,  and 
clean.     Public  squares  and  gardens  are  numerous 


404  FIYE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

and  well  cared  for.  The  houses  are  of  squared 
stone  and  wear  a  highly  respectable  mien.  Prm- 
ces  street,  which  extends  along  the  brow  of  the 
ridge  and  overlooks  the  old  city  across  the  ravine, 
is  one  of  the  most  attractive  retail  business  streets 
anywhere  to  be  found.  The  shop  windows  are 
wonderful  in  the  great  variety  and  beauty  of  their 
contents,  so  that  indeed  it  takes  a  lady  a  whole 
afternoon  to  get  from  one  end  of  the  street  to  the 
other.  The  view  from  Princes  street  across  the 
valley  is  very  picturesque.  At  our  extreme  right 
stands  the  castle.  In  front,  over  the  tops  of  the 
tall  houses,  rises  the  crown-like  summit  of  St. 
Giles's  Cathedral.  At  our  left  can  be  seen  the 
lofty  summit  of  Arthur's  Seat.  All  along  the 
foreground  are  tall  eight  and  ten-story  buildings 
with  curious  gables  and  extinguisher-shaped  tur- 
rets, forming  a  picturesque  panorama. 

On  the  slope  of  the  valley,  near  Princes  street, 
stands  the  Scott  Monument,  one  of  the  finest 
monuments  to  a  private  individual  that  modern 
times  have  produced.  It  consists  of  a  marble 
statue  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  surmounted  by  a  mag- 
nificent Grothic  canopy  and  spire  two  hundred 
feet  high.  There  are  also  in  the  new  city  a  great 
number  of  other  monuments  to  public  men  of  the 
present  century,  some  very  imposing. 

In  this  part  of  Edinburgh  is  the  new  English, 
or    Episcopal,    cathedral,    probably    the    finest 


NEW  AND  OLD  EDINBURGH.  405 

Gothic  cliurch  edifice  of  modern  times.  It  was 
built  under  the  supervision  of  Sir  Gilbert  Scott, 
in  the  Early  English  style,  and  is  a  very  beautiful 
and  meritorious  structure.  Its  cost  has  been 
about  $600,000,  a  sum  equivalent  in  the  amount 
of  building  it  will  accomplish  to  two  or  three 
times  that  amount  if  expended  in  America.  The 
larger  half  of  the  cost  was  defrayed  by  an  Edin- 
burgh lady,  who  thus  prevented  her  heirs  quar- 
reling over  and  squandering  her  fortune. 

While  the  new  city  is  in  every  respect  so  beau- 
tiful and  attractive.  Old  Edinburgh  is  quite  the 
reverse.  Take  High  street,  for  example,  which 
extends  along  the  crest  of  the  castle  ridge  from 
the  castle  down  to  Holyrood  palace,  though  for 
the  latter  portion  of  the  distance  it  is  known  as 
the  Canongate.  It,  of  course,  lies  parallel  with 
Princes  street.  It  has  few  intersecting  streets, 
but  a  great  number  of  courts,  closes  or  wynds — 
narrow  passages  running  under  the  houses  and 
communicating  in  the  rear  with  narrow  open 
courts  surrounded  by  lofty  buildings.  The  build- 
ings on  High  street  are  six,  seven  and  eight 
stories  high,  massively  built  of  squared  or  rubble 
stone,  and  in  quaint  and  very  irregular  style, 
most  of  them  being  two  hundred  years  old  and 
upwards.  Judging  from  the  great  number  of 
children  that  swarm  the  streets,  nowhere  else  in 
the  wide  world  can  there  be  so  large  a  population 


406  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

crowded  into  so  small  a  space.  And  such  a  dirty- 
population  !  Even  on  High  street,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  wynds,  one  must  be  careful  where  he  sets 
his  foot,  and  if  at  all  of  a  weak  stomach  he  will 
do  well  to  hold  his  nose  as  he  passes  the  entrances 
to  the  wynds  or  closes. 

It  must  not  be  understood  that  all  the  southern 
part  of  the  city  is  of  a  like  character  with  High 
street  and  its  purlieus.  On  the  contrary,  one  of 
the  prettiest  parts  of  Edinburgh  lies  just  beyond. 
As  in  our  western  cities,  the  houses  in  this  por- 
tion are  built  with  considerable  ground  about 
them,  which  is  prettily  laid  out  in  lawns  and 
flower-beds.  The  houses  themselves  are  uni- 
formly of  stone,  and  are  built  with  much  archi- 
tectural taste.  Taken  as  a  whole  Edinburgh  is 
certainly  a  beautiful  city. 

Edinburgh  Castle  had  its  origin  in  a  very  early 
period.  One  small  chapel  contained  in  it,  dates 
from  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century,  it  having 
been  built  for  Queen  Margaret,  wife  of  Malcolm 
III.,  who  died  in  1093.  Malcolm  and  Margaret 
were  the  parents  of  David  I.,  the  model  king  of 
ancient  Scotland.  He  founded  the  abbeys  of 
Holyrood  and  Melrose  and  many  other  ecclesiasti- 
cal establishments,  the  centers  of  civilization  and 
learning  of  that  early  period.  Part  of  Edinburgh 
Castle  is  quite  modern.  It  possesses  little  of 
interest    beyond    the    fine    view    it    commands, 


EDINBURGH  CASTLE.  407 

though  there  is  shown  there  a  suite  of  rooms  occu- 
pied by  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  in  one  of  which,  a 
mere  closet  in  size,  she  gave  birth  to  James  VI., 
afterwards  James  I.  of  England.  In  another 
room  of  the  castle  is  preserved  the  ancient  regalia 
or  crown  jewels  of  Scotland,  which  the  jealousies 
of  the  Scotch  people  prevented  being  taken  to 
London  on  the  union  of  the  crowns.  To  quiet 
public  apprehension  the  old  crown,  sceptre,  and 
sword  of  state — no  very  rich  display  compared 
with  the  English  crown  jewels — were  boxed  up 
and  deposited  in  a  strong  room  of  the  castle, 
where  they  remained  for  one  hundred  and  ten 
years,  until  they  were  forgotten,  or  at  least  till 
their  existence  was  considered  doubtful.  Then, 
through  the  instrumentality  of  Sir  Walter  Scott 
and  other  antiquaries,  the  old  chest  was  broken 
open  and  the  jewels  were  found  intact.  An  old 
fifteenth  century  gun,  made  of  bars  of  iron 
secured  by  bands,  known  as  Mons  Meg,  from  its 
having  been  made  at  Mons,  in  Belgium,  is  also 
one  of  the  curiosities  of  the  castle. 

In  High  street,  about  midway  between  the  cas- 
tle and  Holyrood,  stands  St.  Giles's  Cathedral,  a 
very  old  church,  but  one  so  mutilated  at  the 
Reformation  and  by  a  bungling  restoration  fifty 
years  ago,  that  it  has  lost  all  appearance  of 
antiquity,  and,  excepting  its  crown-shaped  spire, 
nearly  all  its  artistic  beauty.     Up  to  the  present 


408  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

time  it  has  been  divided  by  partition  walls  into 
two  parish,  churches,  but  these  walls  are  now 
about  to  be  removed,  and  a  more  discriminating 
restoration  proceeded  with.  A  large  share  of  the 
cost  of  this  work  is  being  borne  by  William 
Chambers,  the  famous  publisher  of  "Chambers' 
Edinburgh  Journal,"  "Information  for  the  Peo- 
ple," and  the  well-known  "Chambers'  Encyclo- 
paedia." Mr.  Chambers'  place  of  business,  by 
the  way,  is  just  across  High  street  from  the  cathe- 
dral, and  overlooks  Princes  Street  Gardens  and 
the  New  town,  as  brass  plates  containing  the 
name  W.  &  R.  Chambers  on  several  doors  indi- 
cate. One  of  the  most  fascinating  biographies 
of  the  past  decade  is  that  of  Robert  Chambers, 
the  junior  member  of  the  firm,  who  died  a  few 
years  since.  The  two  brothers  began  life  about 
half  a  century  ago  in  the  most  humble  manner, 
with  no  resources  but  their  native  Scotch  industry 
and  thrift.  Being  fond  of  literature  they  gravi- 
tated into  the  publishing  business,  and  founded 
their  weekly  journal,  which  speedily  became  a 
prodigious  success,  and  ultimately  acquired  for 
them  a  large  fortune.  The  biography  alluded  to 
is  worthy  the  perusal  of  every  aspiring  young 
man. 

St.  Giles's  has,  since  the  Reformation,  been  a 
Presbyterian  church.  We  attended  services  there 
one  Sunday.     The   minister  wore  a  black  gown 


ST.  GILES'S.  409 

and  bands,  such  as  we  are  used  to  in  some  Epis- 
copal churches.  There  was  a  large  choir  and 
organ,  but  all  the  congregation  joined  heartily  in 
the  singing.  The  people  stood  up  to  sing  and  sat 
to  pray.  The  prayers  were  extempore^  but  were 
strongly  interlarded  with  expressions  from  the 
English  liturgy,  and  closed  with  the  most  ritual- 
istic a>^men.  Indeed  the  longer  prayers  were 
each  in  fact  a  series  of  shorter  ones,  rather  than 
a  continuous  petition.  The  progTamme  of  the 
services  was  as  follows:  Singing  of  a  psalm, 
prayer,  Old  Testament  lesson,  chanting  of  a  psalm, 
New  Testament  lesson,  prayer,  another  psalm,  ser- 
mon of  twenty-five  minutes,  psalm,  prayer,  col- 
lection and  benediction.  It  was  noteworthy  that 
almost  every  member  of  the  congregation  held  a 
bible  in  his  hand  and  followed  the  minister  in  the 
reading  of  the  lessons. 

In  the  south  transept  of  St.  Giles's  is  the  tomb 
of  Regent  Murray,  the  half-brother  of  Mary 
Queen  of  Scots,  and  regent  of  the  kingdom  dur- 
ing part  of  her  imprisonment.  Readers  of  Scot- 
tish history  will  remember  that  he  was  assassin- 
ated at  Linlithgow,  in  1570,  by  Mary's  partisans. 
He  was  a  wise  and  moderate  ruler,  and  his  death 
was  a  great  loss  to  Scotland. 

In  the  middle  of  the  street,  on  the  south  side  of 
St.  Giles's,  is  the  grave  of  the  famous  Scottish 
reformer,  John  Knox,  marked  only  by  a  .small 


410  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

square  stone,  level  with  the  pavement,  with  the 
letters  I.  K.  1572,  in  brass,  let  into  it.  It  requires 
careful  looking  to  find  it  at  all. 

A  little  farther  down  High  street,  on  the  left 
hand  side,  is  the  house  formerly  occupied  by- 
John  Knox.  It  is  a  quaint  old  place,  projecting 
far  into  the  street,  with  a  low  ground  floor,  now 
occupied  by  a  tobacconist's  shop,  stone  steps  to 
the  second  story,  and  three  stories  above  it,  each 
projecting  farther  into  the  street  than  the  one 
below.  The  roof  is  a  queer  jumble  of  gables, 
dormers  and  chimney-pots.  On  the  corner  is  a 
little  stone  image  pointing  up  to  the  word  God, 
cut  in  the  wall  in  four  different  languages. 
Where  the  sign  should  be,  just  over  the  shop 
front,  are  the  words : 

XOFE.  GOD.  ABOUE,  AL.  AND.  YOUR.  NICHTBOUR.  AS.  YI.  SELF. 

The  house  was  built  in  1490  for  a  Scottish 
nobleman.  When  Knox  was  pastor  of  St.  Giles's 
he  secured  it  for  a  manse,  and  here  he  resided  till 
his  death.  The  house  has  in  late  years  been 
restored  interiorly,  and  it  is  kept  for  exhibition 
to  strangers.  Ascending  the  outside  steps  we 
enter  a  large  room  used  by  the  great  reformer  as 
an  audience  chamber,  and  from  one  window  of 
which,  looking  up  High  street,  he  was  wont  occa- 
sionally to  preach  to  a  crowd  on  the  sidewalk 
below.  The  next  story  contains  his  bedroom,  a 
large  parlor  richly  wainscoted  with  carved  oak 


JOHN  KNOX.  411 

panels,  and  a  small  closet  projecting  into  the 
street,  which  served  as  his  study.  The  chair  he 
occupied  in  the  latter  still  stands  in  its  old  corner. 
Other  furniture  of  the  period  has  been  collected 
in  the  other  rooms,  together  with  a  number  of 
miscellaneous  curiosities  associated  with  the 
Reformation  period.  John  Knox  was  born  in 
1505,  was  educated  for  the  priesthood,  and  became 
a  professor  in  the  university  of  St.  Andrews.  In 
1542  he  joined  the  Reformers,  and  it  w-as  mainly 
by  his  earnest  and  vigorous  preaching,  and  by 
the  influence  that  he  gained  with  the  masses,  that 
Scotland,  from  being  a  stronghold  of  Catholicism, 
became  of  all  countries  the  most  uncompromis- 
ingly protestant.  Knox  was  a  most  remarkable 
man  for  the  recklessness  with  which  he  assailed 
the  enemies  of  the  reformed  religion,  no  matter 
what  their  power.  To  the  royal  family  he  was 
on  occasions  positively  insulting.  It  seems 
almost  miraculous,  in  view  of  the  rough  times  in 
which  he  lived  and  the  slight  regard  in  which 
human  life  was  held,  that  he  was  not  summarily 
put  out  of  the  way.  But  his  life  seems  to  have 
been  a  charmed  one,  for,  although  several  con- 
spiracies were  formed  to  murder  him,  and  once  a 
bullet  did  come  whizzing  through  his  parlor  win- 
dow, aimed  at  the  spot  where  he  was  wont  at 
that  hour  to  be  sitting,  he  escaped  all  perils  and 
died  at  last,  in  1572,  a  natural  death  in  his  own 
house. 


412  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

Leaving  John  Knox's  house,  a  little  further  on 
we  come  to  the  Canongate  parish  church,  an 
ugly  old  building,  in  the  churchyard  of  which 
lies  buried  Adam  Smith,  author  of  the  "Wealth 
of  Nations,"  one  of  the  ablest  works  on  political 
economy  ever  published. 

At  the  foot  of  the  street,  the  Canongate,  we 
come  upon  Holyrood  Palace,  famous  chiefly  for 
its  associations  with  the  beautiful,  but  misguided 
and  unfortunate,  Mary  Queen  of  Scots.  It  was 
originally  an  abbey,  founded  in  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury by  the  pious  King  David  I.  It  had  long 
been  used  more  or  less  as  a  royal  residence,  when 
James  TV.,  grandfather  of  Mary  Stuart,  added  to 
it  the  present  palace.  James  soon  after  married 
the  Princess  Margaret,  daughter  of  Henry  VII. 
of  England,  and  of  course  the  sister  of  Henry 
YIII.  This  was  in  1503.  Ten  years  later  he  fell 
in  battle  with  the  English  at  Flodden  Field.  He 
was  succeeded  by  his  young  son,  James  V.,  during 
whose  reign  the  Reformation  in  Scotland  made 
considerable  progress.  James' s  wife  was  Mary  of 
Guise,  a  French  princess,  and  their  only  child, 
the  future  Queen  Mary,  was  born  in  1542,  only 
seven  days  before  her  father's  death.  Mary's 
early  life  was  sj)ent  in  France,  where  she  was 
married  to  the  Dauphin,  or  heir  apparent  to  that 
kingdom.  Upon  his  early  death  she  returned  to 
Scotland,  and  was  received  with  great  loyalty  by 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS.  413 

her  snbjects.  This  was  in  August,  1561.  All 
went  well  till  her  marriage  to  her  cousin,  Lord 
Darnley,  a  young  English  nobleman,  in  July, 
1565,  when  the  Scottish  court  at  once  became  a 
hot-bed  of  intrigue.  Darnley  embarked  in  pursuit  • 
of  royal  powers,  and  the  Scottish  nobility  plotted 
against  both  Darnley  and  the  Queen  on  account 
of  the  husband's  overweening  pretensions. 

Mary's  private  secretary  was  one  Rizzio,  an 
Italian,  who  was  also  a  great  favorite  with  her  on 
account  of  his  musical  talents.  Darnley  early 
became  jealous  of  this  man,  and  in  less  than  eight 
months  after  his  marriage  organized  a  conspiracy 
to  assassinate  him.  It  was  on  the  9th  of  March, 
1565,  that,  with  a  large  party  of  armed  men,  he 
burst  into  the  Queen's  private  rooms  where  she 
was  supping  with  a  party  of  friends,  Rizzio  being 
in  attendance,  and  in  her  very  presence  assaulted 
and  slew  him.  The  blood  stains  on  the  floor,  in 
the  large  outer  room  whither  they  dragged  him, 
are  still  plainly  visible.  Later  Queen  Mary  had 
this  portion  of  the  room  partitioned  off  from  the 
rest,  so  as  to  hide  the  ugly  spot  from  her  vision, 
and  thus  it  happens  that  the  scene  of  his  death  is 
now  a  narrow  passage  way.  Three  months  after 
the  murder  the  Queen  gave  birth  to  her  only 
child,  afterwards  James  I.  of  England.  Mary 
lived  unhappily  with  Darnley,  but  there  seem  to 
be  grave  doubts  of  her  being  accessory  to  his 


414  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

murder,  wliicli  occurred  on  the  31st  of  January- 
following — but  little  more  than  ten  months  after 
the  R/izzio  tragedy.  Darnley,  who  was  in  ill- 
health,  was  lodging  for  quiet  in  a  secluded  house 
known  as  Kirk  of  Field,  on  what  is  now  part  of 
the  university  grounds,  when,  early  in  the  morn- 
ing, a  large  quantity  of  gunpowder  was  exploded 
in  the  cellar,  and  that  was  the  last  of  either  the 
house  or  Darnley.  The  horrible  deed  w^as  fixed 
on  the  Earl  of  Both  well,  but  he  managed  to 
secure  an  acquittal  upon  his  trial,  and  within 
four  months  had  procured  a  divorce  from  his  own 
wife  and  had  married  the  widow  of  his  victim. 

Then  Mary's  more  serious  troubles  began. 
Bo  til  well  treated  her  like  a  brute,  and  her  nobles, 
scandalized  by  her  conduct,  and  dreading  the 
power  and  ambition  of  her  new  husband,  rose  up 
in  insurrection.  In  less  than  a  month  from  the 
date  of  her  marriage  she  was  a  prisoner  in  Loch- 
leven  castle,  and  Both  well  a  fugitive  in  the  Ork- 
ney Islands,  where  he  ended  his  career  as  a  pirate. 
A  year  later  she  escaped  from  Lochleven,  and 
rallying  her  friends  ventured  a  battle  with  the 
insurgent  lords.  She  was  defeated  and  fled  to 
England,  to  meet  there  an  imprisonment  of 
eighteen  years,  which  was  to  terminate  only  with 
her  tragic  death.  While  living,  as  a  Catholic, 
and  the  next  heir  to  the  throne  of  England,  she 
was  constantly  the  center  of   intrigue  for  the 


HOLYROOD.  415 

removal  of  Elizabeth  and  tlie  restoration  of  the 
Catholic  religion.  Queen  Elizabeth  finally  relieved 
herself  of  her  constant  anxiety  by  cutting  off  her 
troublesome  captive's  head. 

Mary's  private  apartments  at  Holyrood  palace 
are  open  to  the  public  on  payment  of  a  small  fee. 
They  occupy  the  third  story  of  the  north  or  left 
hand  wing  of  the  palace,  as  we  stand  facing  it, 
and  consist  of  a  large  audience  room,  a  good 
sized  bedroom,  a  little  five  by  nine  dressing  room 
in  one  of  the  round  towers  that  ornament  the  cor- 
ners of  the  building,  and  which  are  so  conspicuous 
in  all  pictures  of  Holyrood,  and  a  supper  room  of 
like  diminutive  size  in  the  other  tower.  Darn- 
ley's  apartments  were  the  exactly  corresponding 
ones  on  the  floor  below.  The  rooms  are  far  from 
elegant,  the  ceilings  being  comparatively  low,  the 
wood  work  clumsy,  and  the  panes  of  the  windows 
small  with  sash  bars  an  inch  thick.  The  walls  of 
some  of  the  rooms  are  wainscoted  with  wood 
entirely  up  to  the  ceiling,  and  in  others  are  cov- 
ered with  faded  tapestry  made  to  fit  the  various 
spaces.  The  floors  are  bare  and  the  furniture  old, 
uncomfortable  and  inartistic.  Such  were  royal 
apartments  in  Scotland  three  centuries  ago. 

The  palace  of  Holyrood  consists  of  a  single 
quadrangle,  with  a  plain  building  of  Italian  archi- 
tecture three  stories  in  height  extending  around 
its    four    sides.     An  arched  piazza  extends  all 


416  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

around  the  quadrangle  on  the  ground  floor.  The 
buildings  on  the  south  side  contain  the  state 
apartments,  and  the  rooms  occupied  by  Queen 
Victoria  when  she  visits  Edinburgh.  The  historic 
apartments,  including  those  above  described,  are 
in  the  opposite  or  north  side  of  the  palace. 
Among  these  is  a  long  picture  gallery  containing 
portraits  of  most  of  the  kings  of  Scotland  from 
the  year  330  before  Christ,  down  to  the  close  of 
the  Stuart  dynasty.  The  authenticity  of  many 
of  the  older  portraits  is  beclouded  by  the  fact 
that  they  were  all  painted  by  one  artist.  Adjoin- 
ing the  northeast  corner  of  the  palace  is  the 
ruined  chapel  of  the  former  abbey  of  Holyrood, 
and  which,  down  to  the  period  of  the  Common- 
wealth, was  the  royal  chapel  of  the  palace.  It 
was  burned  by  Cromwell's  soldiers  in  1650.  In 
1768  the  building  was  restored,  but  such  a  quan- 
tity of  stone-work  was  put  into  the  vaulting  and 
roof  that  the  walls  gave  way  under  the  weight 
and  the  building  became  the  utter  ruin  we  to-day 
see  it. 

Probably  no  city  in  the  world  is  better  supplied 
with  schools  and  colleges  of  a  high  grade  than 
Edinburgh.  It  also  has  an  art  school  and  very 
excellent  public  gallery  of  paintings.  The  latter 
contains  a  few  old  masters,  but  the  works  are 
mostly  those  of  Scottish  painters.  There  is  also 
a  gallery  of  casts  of  ancient  sculpture,  and  a  very 


POPULATION  OF  EDINBURGH. 


417 


interesting  museum  of  antiquities.  In  the  uni- 
versity is  another  extensive  museum  of  arts 
and  sciences  somev^hat  similar  to  that  at  South 
Kensington. 

Riding  on  a  street  car  one  day,  I  asked  a  gen- 
tleman beside  me  what  might  be  the  population 
of  Edinburgh,  *' Really,  I  cannot  inform  you," 
he  replied,  then  turning  to  an  old  gentleman  next 
to  him,  he  put  the  same  question  to  him.  The 
old  gentleman  did  not  know  either,  and  asked  a 
third  party,  who  was  not  sure,  but  thought  about 
fifty- eight  thousand.  With  some  trouble  I  ascer- 
tained that  it  was  two  hundred  and  eighty-five 
thousand,  including  Leith,  but  I  was  impressed 
with  the  little  interest  Edinburghers  seem  to  feel 
in  the  growth  of  their  beautiful  city. 


27 


CHAPTER  XL. 

MELROSE  ABBEY  — ABBOTSFORD  —  DRYBURGH  ABBEY  — ROSLIN 
CHAPEL  — SIR  WALTER  SCOTT  —  STIRLING  —  THE  SCOTTISH 
LAKES  AND  HIGHLANDS— THE  LADY  OP  THE  LAKE  — THE 
TROSSACHS. 

I, 

^^HIRTY-FIVE  miles  south  of  Edinburgh  is 
^^  the  little  village  of  Melrose,  the  site  of 
\  Melrose  Abbey,  famous  from  its  associ- 
ation with  Walter  Scott's  "  Lay  of  the  Last  Min- 
strel," and  his  novel,  ''The  Monastery."  It  is 
one  of  the  abbeys  founded  by  the  good  King 
David  I.,  more  than  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
years  ago.  In  the  fourteenth  century  it  was 
restored  by  Robert  Bruce,  whose  heart,  by  the 
way,  lies  buried  just  under  the  east  window  in 
the  choir.  In  1545  the  abbey  was  destroyed  by 
the  English  in  one  of  their  retaliatory  forays 
across  the  border.  Then  for  a  long  time  the 
ruins  became  the  stone  quarry  of  the  neighbor- 
hood. In  1618  a  portion  of  the  nave  was  vaulted 
over  in  a  most  barbarous  style  and  converted  into 
a  Presbyterian  kirk,  which  purpose  it  continued 
to  serve  down  to  1810.  The  ruin  is  now  carefully 
preserved.  It  consists  of  all  the  outer  walls, 
except  the  west  end  and  about  half  of  the  north 
wall  of  the  nave,  which  are  entirely  gone.    More 

418 


MELEOSE  ABBEY.  419 

than  half  of  the  columns  remain  standing,  also  a 
few  sections  of  the  groined  vaulting,  and  one  side 
of  the  square  central  tower.  The  tracery  of  the 
windows,  and  the  sculptured  capitals  of  the  col- 
umns, are  exquisitely  beautiful,  showing  that  the 
church  in  its  perfection  must  have  been  a  work  of 
the  highest  artistic  merit.  None  of  the  other 
monastic  buildings  are  at  all  traceable,  though 
the  abbey  before  its  destruction  was  very  exten- 
sive, rich  and  profligate.  Besides  Bruce' s  grave, 
that  of  Michael  Scott,  the  wizard,  immortalized 
in  the  '*Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel,"  is  pointed 
out  in  the  south  transept. 

Two  or  three  miles  up  the  valley  of  the  Tweed 
from  Melrose  is  Abbotsford,  the  renowned  home 
of  Sir  Walter  Scott.  When  Sir  Walter  became 
wealthy,  from  his  literary  work,  he  purchased 
this  estate,  then  a  humble  farm  with  the  uneupho- 
nious  name  of  Cartley  Hole.  For  eleven  years, 
from  1811  to  1822,  he  gave  his  personal  and 
immediate  attention  to  the  erection  of  the  house, 
and  the  laying  out  and  beautifying  of  the 
grounds,  and  succeeded  in  producing  one  of  the 
most  artistic  and  interesting  homesteads  to  be 
found  anywhere.  Every  portion  of  it  is  modeled 
after  the  best  features  of  some  mediaeval  castle, 
palace,  or  abbey,  the  whole  forming  a  perfectly 
harmonious  mosaic  of  antique  architecture.  The 
sculptured  stone  work  of  Melrose  Abbey,  Roslin 


420  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

Chapel,  and  other  beautiful  ruins  of  the  neighbor- 
hood, was  drawn  upon  largely  for  models  for  the 
interior  decorations.  Visitors  enter  by  a  side 
door,  pay  a  shilling  apiece  to*the  attendant,  pass 
through  a  basement  ante-room  hung  with  old 
prints,  up  a  winding  stone  stair,  and  then  find 
themselves  in  Sir  Walter' s  study,  a  comparatively 
small  room,  with  book  shelves  all  around  reach- 
ing quite  to  the  ceiling,  and  the  chair  and  table 
in  the  center  which  he  occupied  while  writing  all 
his  later  novels.  From  the  study  we  pass  into 
the  library,  a  very  large  room  with  twenty  thou- 
sand volumes  filling  the  shelves  that  line  the 
walls.  The  furniture  is  all  unique,  and  was  for 
the  most  part  presented  to  Sir  Walter  by  high 
dignitaries  in  church  and  state,  King  George  the 
TV.  and  the  Pope  being  among  the  number. 
There  is  also  a  glass  case  containing  a  great  num- 
ber of  interesting  curiosities,  picked  up  by  Sir 
Walter  in  his  long  career  as  an  antiquary.  Both 
the  library  and  drawing  room  adjoining  look  out 
upon  a  beautiful  lawn,  extending  quite  down  to 
the  little  river  Tweed.  The  latter  room  has  its 
walls  decorated  with  hand-painted  paper,  hung 
more  than  sixty  years  ago,  and  contains  portraits 
of  many  eminent  historical  characters.  We  next 
pass  into  a  long,  narrow  room,  the  walls  of  which 
are  completely  covered  with  ancient  and  historic 
arms.     Here  are  the  pistols  of  Claverhouse,  the 


ABBOTSFORD.  .      421 

persecutor  of  the  Covenanters,  the  claymore  and 
musket  of  Rob  Roy,  a  pair  of  pistols  carried  by 
Napoleon  at  Waterloo,  a  German  executioner's 
sword,  and  hundreds  of  other  rare  and  curious 
weapons.,  The  collection  of  arms  and  armor  is 
continued  in  the  main  entrance  hall,  which  we 
next  enter,  and  which  completes  the  suite  of 
rooms  open  to  the  public.  The  rest  of  the  house 
is  occupied  by  a  great-grand-daughter  of  Sir 
Walter,  a  Mrs.  Maxwell.  It  was  impossible  in 
the  brief  time  alloted  to  a  visit  to  note  even  a 
tithe  of  the  interesting  objects  with  which 
Abbotsford  is  replete.  It  is  the  model  home  of 
the  poet,  the  historian  and  the  romancist. 

About  an  equal  distance  on  the  other  side  of 
Melrose,  and  also  on  the  banks  of  the  Tweed,  is 
Dryburgh  (pronounced  Dryboro)  Abbey,  another 
beautiful  monastic  establishment,  founded  in  the 
twelfth  century,  restored  by  Robert  Bruce,  and 
left  a  ruin  by  the  English  in  1544.  The  church  is 
much  less  perfect  than  Melrose,  but  the  walls  of 
the  other  monastic  buildings  are  still  in  good 
preservation.  The  latter  are  mostly  covered  with 
ivy,  and  the  whole  ruin  is  exceedingly  pictur- 
esque. In  one  bay  of  the  north  aisle  of  the 
church,  the  vaulting  of  which  still  remains  per- 
fect, are  the  tombs  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  his  wife, 
son,  and  son-in-law  and  biographer,  Lockhart, 
each  being  marked  by  a  block  of  solid  Scotch 


422  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

granifce,  with  a  simple  inscription  on  the  top,  and 
all  inclosed  by  an  iron  railing.  It  will  occur  to 
the  reader  that  there  is  a  peculiar  appropriate- 
ness in  the  great  poet  and  novelist  thus  finding 
his  last  resting  place  amid  the  romantic  ruins  of 
an  ancient  abbey. 

Between  Melrose  and  Dry  burgh  are  the  Eildon 
Hills,  which  the  reader  of  the  "  Lay  of  the  Last 
Minstrel"  will  remember  the  imps  of  Michael 
Scott  clave  in  three  in  a  single  night,  when,  pest- 
ering him  for  further  employment,  he  ingeniously 
set  them  to  work  twisting  ropes  out  of  sea  sand. 
From  this  place  also  can  be  seen  in  the  distance 
the  Cheviot  hills,  which  form  in  part  the  boundary 
between  England  and  Scotland. 

About  ten  miles  southeast  of  Edinburgh  is  the 
hamlet  of  Roslin,  or  Rosslyn,  as  it  is  variously 
spelled,  with  its  ruined  castle  and  famous  chapel. 
The  castle  must  at  one  time  have  been  very  exten- 
sive, and  a  place  of  great  strength  both  from  its 
position,  almost  entirely  surrounded  by  deep 
valleys,  and  from  the  thickness  of  its  walls,  but 
nothing  now  remains  of  it  but  several  tiers  of 
vaulted  chambers,  which  were  probably  the  kitch- 
ens, storehouses  and  dungeons  of  the  establish- 
ment. The  chapel  was  built  by  the  Lord  of  Ros- 
lin  in  1446,  and  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
pieces  of  architecture  in  Great  Britain.  It  was 
originally  intended   as  an  abbey  church,   with 


ROSLIN  CHAPEL.  423 

trattsepts  and  nave,  but  only  the  choir  or  chancel 
was  ever  finished.  It  is  a  small,  affair,  but  very 
massively  built  and  excessively  ornate.  In  the 
whole  interior  there  is  scarcely  a  square  foot  of 
surface  in  the  stone  work  which  is  not  elaborately 
carved,  and  as  there  is  no  repetition  of  the 
designs,  the  reader  may  imagine  what  a  study  the 
building  presents.  Even  the  vaulted  ceiling  is 
richly  carved  in  what  is  known  as  diaper  work, 
in  a  variety  of  patterns.  Not  only  are  the  capi- 
tals of  the  columns  diverse  in  every  instance,  but 
the  faces  of  the  columns  themselves.  One  of  the 
latter,  known  as  the  Apprentice's  Pillar,  is  a  rare 
piece  of  workmanship.  It  is  a  fluted  column 
with  a  wreath  of  foliage  spirally  encircling"  it. 
The  legend  is  that  the  builder  of  the  chapel  found 
his  skill  unequal  to  this  column,  and  went  to 
Rome  for  further  instruction  in  his  delicate  art. 
Upon  his  return  he  found  that  an  apprentice  lad 
had  undertaken  and  completed  the  difficult  job, 
whereupon  in  a  fit  of  envious  hatred  he  killed 
the  poor  fellow  with  his  mallet.  The  arches,  too, 
are  cuspated  so  elaborately  as  to  present  quite  a 
stalactite  appearance.  The  building  is  in  the 
Gothic  style  of  architecture,  but  its  excessive 
richness  of  ornamentation  suggests  the  influence 
of  a  Spanish  or  Moorish  taste.  For  two  hundred 
years  the  chapel  was  neglected,  windowless,  and 
exposed  to  the  weather,  but  has  lately  been  put 


424  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

in  repair,  and  services  are  now  held  in  it  erery 
Sabbath. 

These  were  all  favorite  haunts  of  Sir  Walter 
Scott,  and  frequently  figure  in  his  works.  It  may 
not  be  out  of  place  here  to  refresh  the  reader's 
memory  in  regard  to  the  history  of  this  remark- 
able writer.  He  was  the  son  of  a  lawyer,  was  born 
in  1771,  and  was  himself  educated  for  the  bar. 
From  early  life  he  was  fond  of  antiquarian  studies, 
and  was  a  ready  versifier.  In  1805  he  published 
the  ' '  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel, ' '  and  at  intervals  of 
two  or  three  years,  ''Marmion,"  "The  Lady  of 
the  Lake,"  and  his  other  poetical  works.  His 
poems  were  received  with  great  favor  by  the 
public.  In  1814,  when  his  popularity  seemed  to 
have  passed  its  zenith,  he  suddenly  appeared  in 
the  role  of  novelist,  "  Waverley"  being  his  first 
production,  whence  the  title,  ''Waverley  Nov- 
els," commonly  applied  to  the  entire  series  of  his 
works  of  fiction.  The  enormous  expense  he  was 
at  in  establishing  his  seat  at  Abbotsford,  and  the 
lavish  hospitality  he  there  indulged,  with  perhaps 
some  reckless  speculations,  brought  him  to  finan- 
cial ruin  in  1826,  his  debts  reaching  $750,000.  As 
an  honest  man,  he  refused  to  compound  with  his 
creditors,  and  devoted  the  remainder  of  his  life  to 
indefatigable  literary  work  for  their  sole  benefit. 
His  writings  during  this  period  were  much  infe- 
rior to  those  of  the  era  of  his  prosperity,  but  he 


SIR  WALTER  SCOTT.  425 

accomplislied  liis  end,  and  the  last  dollar  of  his 
indebtedness  was  paid  by  his  executors  soon  after 
his  death,  which  occurred  in  1832.  Sir  Walter 
Scott's  works  are  alike  famous  for  their  purity  of 
style,  their  richness  in  historic  fact  and  incident, 
and  their  admirable  portrayal  of  the  manners, 
customs,  and  modes  of  expression  of  the  medi- 
aeval period.  No  man  is  more  worshiped  in  Scot- 
land than  he. 

From  Edinburgh  we  take  the  train  for  Stirling. 
The  reader  will  frequently  have  observed  after 
a  rainstorm  how,  under  the  shelter  of  every  peb- 
ble in  the  gutters,  a  little  ridge  of  sand  or  mud 
forms  itself,  which  gradually  diminishes  in  size 
as  it  recedes  from  the  protecting  pebble.  So 
when,  at  some  very  remote  period,  a  great  flood 
of  waters  washed  out  the  valley  of  the  Forth,  it 
encountered  two  sturdy  rocks  which  withstood 
its  fury,  behind  each  of  which  a  sloping  ridge  of 
alluvial  deposit  formed  itself — two  instances  of 
what  geologists  call  "  crag  and  tail."  Upon  these 
two  rocks  castles  were  ultimately  built,  and  upon 
their  sloping  tails  cities  grew  up,  which  in  turn 
have  been  the  capitals  of  Scotland.  One  is  the 
castle  and  city  of  Edinburgh,  the  other  the  castle 
and  city  of  Stirling,  the  latter  being  situated 
thirty-six  miles  farther  up  the  river,  or  northwest 
of  the  former. 

Next  to  Edinburgh,    Stirling  possesses  more 


426  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

Mstorical  interest  than  any  other  place  in  Scot- 
land. It  was  the  scene  of  two  very  early  and 
memorable  victories  gained  by  the  Scots  over  the 
English.  In  1297  William  Wallace  here  won  the 
battle  of  Stirling  Bridge,  to  commemorate  which 
a  noble  monument  in  form  of  a  tower  with  coronal 
spire,  very  like  that  of  St.  Giles's  cathedral,  con- 
spicuously surmounts  a  neighboring  hill.  Seven- 
teen years  later  (1314)  Hobert  Bruce  won  the 
great  battle  of  Bannockburn  within  sight  of 
Stirling  castle,  and  this  a  tall  flag- staff  commem- 
orates. 

The  oldest  existing  portion  of  the  castle  dates 
from  1424.  The  Stuart  family  made  it  a  royal 
residence,  and  in  1480  a  line  building,  still  in  good 
repair  and  in  use  as  barracks  for  the  garrison,  was 
erected  within  its  walls  for  the  sittings  of  the 
Scottish  parliament.  Sixty  years  later  James  Y., 
father  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  built  adjacent  to 
it  a  sumptuous  palace,  which  still  stands,  forming 
the  principal  building  of  the  castle.  It  is  rather 
richly  ornamented  on  the  outside  with  statues, 
and  has  a  court  in  the  center  called  the  Lion's 
Court,  because  originally  lions  were  kept  at  large 
in  it  for  the  amusement  of  the  inmates  of  the  pal- 
ace, who  could  look  down  upon  them  from  the 
windows  surrounding  the  court.  The  openings 
through  the  massive  walls  through  which  the 
lions  were  fed  are  stUl  to  be  seen.     In  1594  James 


STIRLING  CASTLE.  427 

VI.  (James  I.  of  England)  built  a  royal  chapel 
witMn  tlie  castle  walls,  which  is  now  nsed  as  an 
armory. 

The  view  from  the  ramparts  of  Stirling  Castle, 
three  hundred  and  sixty  feet  above  the  river,  is 
most  superb.  On  all  sides  is  the  level  and  highly 
cultivated  valley,  through  which  flows  the  little 
tortuous  Forth,  bounded  in  every  direction  by 
beautiful  hills.  Such  views  are  rarely  to  be  seen 
out  of  Scotland. 

A  little  below,  on  the  castle  slope,  is  the  old 
Grey  Friars'  church — an  old  abbey — in  which 
both  Mary  and  her  son,  James  VI.,  were  crowned 
in  infancy.  Down  in  the  town  is  a  house  which 
belonged  to  Lord  Darnley,  and  which  served  as 
the  nursery  of  his  son,  the  infantile  King  James. 

Stirling  bridge  has  always  been  known  as  the 
key  to  the  Scottish  Highlands,  so  from  the  time 
we  leave  Stirling  we  may  regard  ourselves  as 
strictly  in  the  Highlands.  About  twenty  miles 
brings  us  to  Callander,  a  pleasant  little  town  in 
the  valley  of  the  river  Teith,  one  of  the  larger 
tributaries  of  the  Forth,  with  which  it  unites  near  ' 
Stirling.  Callander  lies  Just  at  the  gateway  to 
the  Scottish  lakes,  and  is  a  popular  summer  resort. 
Dozens  of  handsome  stone  villas  were,  at  the 
time  of  our  visit,  going  up  for  the  accommodation 
of  sojourners.  The  place  also  boasts  one  of  the 
best  managed  hotels  in  Britain.     It  bears  the 


428  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

imposing  name  of  the  Dreadnoiiglit,  and  is  kept 
by  an  unmarried  lady. 

Who  has  not  read  the  "  Lady  of  the  Lake," 
Sir  Walter  Scott' s  most  popular  poem  ?  Well, 
this  bit  of  country  we  are  now  in,  is  the  scene 
of  the  thrilling  events  therein  described.  Loch 
Katrine  is  the  lake  in  question,  and  an  island  of 
considerable  size  near  its  foot  is  known  as  Ellen's 
island.  Here  is  the  mountain  of  Ben  Venue  and 
here  Loch  Achray,  through  which  the  waters  of 
Katrine  flow  on  their  way  to  join  the  Teith.  A 
little  below  is  Lanrick  Mead,  the  rendezvous  of 
the  Clan  Alpines,  and  still  below  is  pointed  out 
the  traditional  spot  where  Koderick  Dhu  and 
Fitz  James  held  their  memorable  combat.  The 
reader  will  recollect  that  the  last  scene  of  the 
poem  is  laid  in  Stirling  Castle,  which  we  have 
just  left.  So  every  inch  of  the  way  is  intimately 
associated  with  the  legends  of  the  poem  and  is 
wonderfully  full  of  interest.  The  good  king  who 
brings  the  tragic  story  to  so  sunny  a  close,  it  may 
be  interesting  to  remember,  was  James  Y.,  father 
of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots. 

We  leave  Callander  about  nine  o'  clock  in  the 
morning  in  an  open  coach  drawn  by  four  horses, 
for  the  famed  Trossachs  or  Trosachs,  as  the  name 
of  the  romantic  glen  that  forms  the  outlet  of 
Lake  Katrine  is  variously  spelled.  The  lake  is 
ten  miles  distant,   and  the  route  affords  us  a 


THE  HIGHLANDS.  429 

splendid  introduction  to  real  Scottish  mountain 
scenery. 

The  mountains  of  Scotland  are  unlike  either 
those  of  our  own  country  or  of  Switzerland  in 
being  entirely  bare  of  trees.     From  base  to  sum- 
mit they  are  covered  with  purple  and    brown 
heather.     Much  of  the  intervening  land  and  often 
far  up  on  the  sides  of  the  hills  is  peat  bog,  which, 
even  for  purposes  of  pasturage,  has  to  be  drained. 
This   mountain  country  is  very  pretty  though 
somewhat    dreary-looking.       It    pastures    large 
numbers  of  highland  sheep,  all,  both  ewes  and 
wethers,  with  horns,  and  all  with  jet  black  noses. 
Highland  cattle,  too,  we  see,   small  and  hardy, 
with  hair  several  inches  long.     They  have  what 
they  call  farms  up  in  this  region,  but  raise  noth- 
ing but  hay  and  a  few  potatoes.     One  farmer  we 
met  who  paid  between  three  thousand  and  three 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars  a  year  rent  for  his 
mountain  ranch,  upon  which  he  simply  pastured 
about  four  thousand  sheep.     The  land  hereabouts 
is  all  owned  by  the  Duke  of  Montrose,  and  though 
what  an  Illinois  farmer  would  consider  worthless, 
still  brings  him  a  good  revenue,  as  may  be  judged 
by  the  rental  of  the  farm  above  mentioned,  and  by 
the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  the  shooting  rights. 
For  the  right  of    shooting  grouse  on  one  tract 
five  or  six  miles  square  his  grace  receives  four 
hundred  pounds,    or  two   thousand  dollars  per 


430  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

annum,  and  there  are  plenty  of  sportsmen  who 
can  afford  to  pay  that  sum  for  three  or  four 
months'  shooting.  The  grouse  season  lasts  from 
August  12th  to  about  December  10th. 

The  famous  Trossachs  are  nothing  remarkable 
after  all  to  an  American.  They  consist  simply  of 
a  wooded  valley,  bounded  by  sharp,  bristling 
mountain  peaks,  and  extend  for  about  a  mile  and 
a  quarter  to  the  foot  of  Loch  or  Lake  Katrine. 
Plenty  of  just  as  good  scenery  of  the  kind  can  be 
found  in  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire,  but  in 
Britain  people  travel  hundreds  of  miles  to  see  the 
Trossachs.     - 

So  with  the  lakes.  Neither  Loch  Lomond  nor 
Loch  Katrine  can  compare  with  Lake  George. 
They  are  very  pretty  lakes,  however,  narrow,  and 
edged  in  with  mountains,  the  principal  of  which 
is  Ben  Lomond,  three  thousand  two  hundred  feet 
high.  Along  the  shores  are  numerous  pleasant 
and  picturesque  residences  and  popular  hotels. 
A  steamer  carries  us  from  the  Trossachs  to  the 
head  of  Loch  Katrine,  where  we  take  another 
coach,  five  and-a-half  miles,  to  Inversnaid,  at  the 
head  of  Loch  Lomond.  Another  boat  takes  us 
to  Balloch,  at  the  foot  of  the  lake,  and  thence 
we  go  by  rail  to  Glasgow,  passing  en  route  the 
ruins  of  Dumbarton  Castle  on  its  rocky  hill. 
The  whole  trip  from  Edinburgh  to  Glasgow,  via 
the  Trossachs,  can  be  accomplished  in  a  day. 


CHAPTER  XLI. 

GLASGOW  AND  ITS  HISTORY— ITS  CATHEDRAL,  RIVER,  AND  COM- 
MERCE—DUMFRIES, THE  HOME  OF  BURNS— HIS  TOMB-^GRETNA 
GREEN— THE  SOLWAY  AND  ITS  CRUEL  MEMORIES. 

n 

LASGOW  began  its  career  as  a  religious 
and  educational  settlement  about  thirteen 
hundred  years  ago.  Its  existing  cathedral 
is  over  seven  hundred  years  old,  and  its  uni- 
versity over  four  hundred  and  thirty.  Its  earliest 
trade  was  in  connection  with  the  fisheries.  Then 
Glasgow  took  a  leading  position  in  the  Virginia 
tobacco  trade,  and  grew  wealthy.  With  the 
invention  of  the  power  loom  she  went  largely  into 
cotton  manufacturing,  and  to-day  works  up  nearly 
a  million  pounds  of  raw  cotton  per  week.  Later 
she  embarked  in  the  iron  and  ship  building  trade ; 
and  thus  has  grown  up  a  great  commercial  and 
manufacturing  city  of  between  seven  and  eight 
hundred  thousand  inhabitants,  reckoning  its 
dependent  suburbs. 

Historically,  Glasgow  has  not  much  to  boast 
of,  though  it  was  the  scene  of  the  battle  of  Lang- 
side,  waged  between  Mary  Stuart,  after  her 
escape  from  Lochleven  castle,  and  her  rebellious 
nobles,  and  in  which  she  sustained  the  defeat 

481 


432  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

that  led  her  to  throw  herself  into  Queen  Eliza- 
beth's  hands.  In  January,  1812,  it  saw  the  test 
of  what  the  Scotch  claim  to  have  been  the  earliest 
successful  steamboat,  the  Comet,  constructed  by 
Henry  Bell,  between  whom  and  Robert  Fulton 
there  must  ever  be  a  division  of  the  honor  of 
being  the  first  to  use  steam  successfully  for  vessel 
propulsion. 

I  spent  a  Sunday  in  Glasgow  and  attended 
Established  Church  of  Scotland  services  at  the 
cathedral,  and  at  two  o'clock  (all  the  churches  in 
Glasgow  have  their  second  service  at  two  and 
Sunday  school  at  half  past  five)  dropped  in  at  the 
Free  church  of  St.  Columba.  The  Presbyterians 
of  Scotland,  by  the  way,  have  no  prejudice 
against  saints  in  naming  their  churches.  St. 
Columba' s  was  the  church  over  which  Rev.  Nor- 
man McLeod  was  pastor  from  1836  to  the  time  of 
Ms  death,  in  1862.  A  fine  bust  of  him  stands  in 
the  vestibule.  Both  English  and  Gaelic  services 
are  held  in  this  church.  The  contrast  between 
the  services  at  the  Established  and  the  Free  church 
was  very  noticeable.  The  former  had  an  organ 
and  well  trained  choir;  the  latter  discard  the 
organ  but  have  some  of  the  best  congregational 
singing  I  have  ever  heard,  led  by  a  precentor  who 
sits  at  a  table  just  below  the  tall  pulpit.  At  the 
Free  church  the  services  were  conducted  much  as 
our  Presbyterian    services    are  at  home.      The 


CHURCH  GOING  IN  SCOTLAND.  433 

prayers  were  purely  extemporaneous,  and  very 
warm  and  earnest,  and  the  sermon  plain,  practical 
and  strongly  evangelical.  At  the  cathedral,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  prayers  were  made  up  of  a 
number  of  short  petitions,  some  of  them  taken 
bodily  from  the  Episcopal  liturgy,  and  all  of  them 
containing  much  of  its  language,  while  the  ser- 
mon, though  scholarly,  lacked  in  depth  and  ear- 
nestness. I  could  not  but  be  impressed  with  the 
idea  that  the  religious  life  of  the  country  is  in  the 
Free  rather  than  in  the  Established  church,  which 
seems  to  have  no  such  decided  mission  of  its  own 
as  suffices  to  keep  it  from  hankering  after  the 
aesthetic  forms  of  the  church  of  England ;  as  for 
instance  the  chanting  of  the  psalms,  the  introduc- 
tion of  an  anthem  in  the  middle  of  the  service, 
adaptations  from  the  liturgy,  etc. 

Glasgow  cathedral  is  quite  an  old  one  (built 
1175),  but  has  recently  been  restored.  Only  the 
choir  is  used  for  worship,  the  nave  serving  as  a 
magnificent  vestibule.  There  are  no  walls,  how- 
ever, separating  the  two  portions.  The  music  is 
superb,  the  large  organ  and  choir  being  well  sup- 
ported by  the  congregation,  and  the  effect  being 
enhanced  by  the  size  and  construction  of  the 
church. 

Just  at  the  back  of  the  cathedral  is  the  princi- 
pal cemetery  of  Glasgow,  the  Necropolis,  as  it  is 
called.     It  occupies  a  hill  overlooking  the  city, 

28 


434  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

and  is  beautiful  both  in  its  location  and  monu- 
ments. The  most  conspicuous  of  the  latter  is  a 
short  Doric  column  surmounted  by  a  stone  statue 
of  John  Knox,  the  whole  being  dedicated  to  the 
memory  of  the  reformers  and  protestant  martyrs 
of  Scotland,  including  George  Wishart,  the 
teacher  of  Knox,  who  was  burned  at  the  stake 
at  St.  Andrews  in  1546. 

Like  Edinburgh,  Glasgow  has  its  High  street 
stretching  away  from  the  cathedral  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  river,  and  like  Edinburgh's  High 
street  it  is  filled  with  barefooted  and  bareheaded 
women  gossiping  on  the  sidewalks,  and  with  bare- 
footed, dirty-faced,  crying  children,  to  an  extent 
that  makes  it  anything  but  a  pleasant  thorough- 
fare to  traverse.  But  the  old  part  of  Glasgow  is 
very  insignificant  as  compared  with  the  new  sec- 
tions, in  which  the  streets  are  broad,  clean,  and 
run  parallel  and  at  right  angles,  as  in  most  of  our 
American  cities.  The  buildings  too,  are,  as  a  rule, 
more  elegant  than  in  any  other  city  of  Great  Brit- 
ain, and  stone  is  almost  exclusively  the  building 
material.  The  Italian  renaissance  style  generally 
prevails,  and  this  gives  Glasgow  an  air  of  modern 
elegance  rather  than  one  of  mediaeval  picturesque- 
ness.  It  is  every  way  a  fine  commercial  city,  nor 
is  it  lacking  in  artistic  aspirations.  In  the  square, 
in  front  of  our  hotel,  we  counted  no  less  than 
twelve  statues  of  as  many  eminent  personages. 


THE  CLYDE.  435 

In  tlie  center  stands  a  tall  column,  surmounted 
by  a  statue  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  to  the  right  and 
left  of  which  are  equestrian  statues  of  the  Queen 
and  Prince  Albert.  Among  the  other  statues  are 
those  of  Dr.  Livingstone,  Robert  Peel,  James 
Watt,  and  Sir  John  Moore,  the  hero  of  Corunna, 
who  was  also  a  native  of  Glasgow.  The  churches 
of  Glasgow  are  nothing  extraordinary,  but  the 
new  university  building,  in  the  Gothic  style,  situ- 
ated just  below  the  city,  is  a  very  striking  edifice. 

The  Clyde,  which,  within  the  recollection  of 
persons  still  living,  could  be  crossed  by  wading, 
has  now,  by  the  enterprise  of  the  Glasgow  people, 
been  so  deepened  and  dredged  out  that  the  largest 
ocean  steamships  sail  right  up  to  the  wharves  of 
the  city.  Unfortunately,  in  accomplishing  this 
end,  the  current  of  the  river  has  been  destroyed, 
and  the  Clyde,  through  the  heart  of  Glasgow,  is 
a  mere  pool  of  stagnant  sewage.  The  river  is 
crossed  by  several  fine  bridges,  below  which  the 
wharves  are  lined  with  sea-going  steamers  bound 
for  all  parts  of  the  world.  Still  farther  down  the 
river  lie  the  shipyards,  unequaled  in  extent  by 
those  of  any  other  port  in  the  world.  The  yards 
are  but  a  short  distance  apart,  and  at  each  three 
or  four  iron  vessels  are  on  the  stocks,  and  the 
hammering  of  the  riveters  is  one  continuous 
clatter. 

Glasgow  is  well  supplied  with  water  by  an 


436  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

aqueduct  from  Locli  Katrine,  tMrty-four  miles 
distant ;  notwithstanding  whicli  more  drunken 
people  are  seen  on  the  streets  than  in  any  other 
European  city  we  have  visited.  The  extreme 
prevalence  of  intemperate  habits  in  Scotland, 
even  among  women,  is  illustrated  by  the  necessity 
for  the  last  clause  of  the  following  sign,  which  I 
noticed  on  a  house  in  Dumfries : 

Mrs.  Crosbie, 

Certified  Midwife — Qualified  in  Accouchments. 

Terms  Moderate — Total  Abstainer. 

Leaving  Glasgow,  a  two  hours'  pleasant  ride 
through  a  very  hilly  country — it  would  be 
hard  to  find  a  ten-acre  field  of  perfectly  level 
ground  in  the  whole  distance  —  brings  us  to 
Dumfries,  a  town  of  twenty  thousand  inhab- 
itants near  the  mouth  of  the  river  Nith,  a  few 
miles  from  the  Irish  sea,  almost  at  the  extreme 
southern  edge  of  Scotland.  Dumfries  is  prin- 
cipally famous  as  having  been  the  later  home 
of  the  poet  Burns,  and  the  place  of  his  burial. 
His  house  still  stands  just  as  he  left  it  eighty- 
five  years  ago.  It  is  an  unpretending  two- 
story  building,  on  a  narrow  street,  and  only  a 
few  steps  from  the  cemetery  where  he  is  buried. 
In  the  cemetery  stands  the  old  parish  church, 
built  one  hundred  and  forty  years  ago  in  the 
peculiar  Scottish  Presbyterian  style,  nearly 
square,   with  gallery  on  three  sides,   and  a  tall 


TOMB  OF  ROBERT  BURNS.  ^         437 

pulpit  holding  but  one  person  on  the  fourth.  A 
charge  of  three  pence  per  head  is  made  to  see  the 
Burns  mausoleum.  It  is  a  plain  dome  supported 
by  Ionic  columns  filled  in  between  with  glass. 
Inside  is  a  life-sized  relief  in  marble  representing 
the  poet  holding  a  plow,  with  an  angel  swooping 
down  upon  him.  In  the  front  of  this  relief  is  a 
slab  in  the  pavement  bearing  this  inscription : 

In  memory  of 

Robert  Burns, 

Who  died  the  21st  of  July,  1796,  in  the  37th  year  of  his  age, 

And 

Maxwell  Burns, 

Who  died  the  25th  of  April,  1799,  aged  2  years  and  9  months, 

Francis  Wallace  Burns, 

Who  died  the  9th  of  July,  1803,  aged  14  years. 

His  sons. 

The  remains  of  Bums  removed  into  the  vault  below,  the  19th  of 

Sept.,  1815. 

And  his  two  sons. 

Also  the  remains  of 

Jean  Armour, 

Relict  of  the  poet. 

Born  Feb.,  1765,  died  26th  Mar.,  1834. 

And  Robert,  his  eldest  son,  who  died  on  the  14th  May, 

1857,  aged  70  years. 

A  visitors'  register  is  kept  in  the  mausoleum, 
and  the  number  signing  it  is  very  large,  particu- 
larly of  Americans.  On  the  river  bank,  a  short 
distance  below  the  cemetery,  is  a  pleasant  walk 
shaded  by  large  elms,  which  is  pointed  out  as  a 


438  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

favorite  resort  of  the  poet,  and  where  no  doubt 
many  of  his  poems  were  inspired. 

Looking  up  the  river  from  this  point,  we  see  a 
very  ancient  stone  bridge,  said  to  have  been  built 
in  the  thirteenth  century  by  the  mother  of  John 
Baliol,  King  of  Scotland. 

The  good  people  of  Dumfries  seem  to  be  exces- 
sively given  to  hospitality,  if  they  may  be  judged 
from  the  courtesy  of  a  gentlemanly  seedsman, 
who,  simply  to  show  politeness  to  strangers,  left 
his  store  and  walked  with  us  to  his  nursery 
nearly  half  a  mile  away  just  to  gratify  a  desire 
expressed  in  a  three  minutes'  acquaintance  to 
take  home  to  America  a  root  of  Scotch  heather. 
And  not  a  penny  would  the  good  burgher  take 
for  all  his  time  and  trouble. 

They  have  many  curious  expressions  in  the 
highlands  of  Scotland,  as  for  instance,  in  denom- 
inating a  butcher  a  '^flesher."  The  sign  on  a 
vacant  lot  near  Glasgow,  "This  property  to  be 
Fued,"  puzzled  us  till  we  found  out  that  a  Scotch 
fue  is  a  perpetual  lease.  The  practice  is  very 
common  to  fue  or  lease  land  for  building  pur- 
poses for  a  term  of  nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine 
years,  the  rental  remaining  the  same  throughout, 
and  the  tenant's  rights  being  as  absolute  as  if  he 
ovmed  the  ground  in  fee  simple,  so  long  as  he 
pays  his  rent  annually. 

In  half  an  hour's  ride  from  Dumfries  we  pass 


ENGLISH  MARRIAGES.  439 

Gretna  Green,  tlie  southernmost  town  in  Scotland, 
and  just  at  the  English  border.  Gretna  Green 
was  long  famous  as  the  goal  of  runaway  couples 
from  England,  who  could  there  be  married  under 
Scottish  law  and  thus  exempt  themselves  from 
the  restrictions  and  formalities  that  the  laws 
of  England  imposed.  So  extensive  did  this  sur- 
reptitious marrying  business  become,  that  the 
•people  of  Gretna  Green  provided  regular  facilities 
for  it,  and  it  indeed  became  the  principal  industry 
of  the  place.  And  this  has  continued  to  within 
the  memory  of  the  present  generation.  But  rail- 
ways and  telegraphs  have  destroyed  the  trade  of 
Gretna  Green  just  as  they  have  of  hosts  of  other 
ambitious  towns. 

This  reminds  me  that  I  never  attended  church 
in  England  on  Sunday  without  hearing  the  bans 
of  one  or  more  couples  published.  No  one  can 
be  married  there,  unless  by  special  license,  with- 
out having  the  bans  thus  publicly  read  in  the 
parish  church  on  three  successive  Sundays. 
Hasty  or  secret  marriages  are  thus  impossible. 
So,  too,  no  marriage  can  ever  be  performed  after 
twelve  o'  clock  noon,  up  to  which  time  it  is  pre- 
sumed by  the  law  that  people  are  sober  and  have 
their  wits  about  them. 

We  cross  the  river  Solway,  and  are  again  in 
England.  The  Solway,  by  the  way,  is  memor- 
able as  being  the  scene  of  several  cruel  executions 


440  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

of  Covenanters  during  Charles  II. 's  reign.  "  The 
gay  and  frivolous  monarch  undertook  to  force 
episcopacy  upon  Scotland  in  spite  of  the  intense 
conscientious  prejudices  of  the  Scottish  people. 
Many  gave  up  their  lives  rather  than  worship 
Grod  out  of  a  prayer  book,  so  much  did  they  con- 
sider it  as  tending  to  a  relapse  towards  Roman- 
ism. Among  these  were  several  young  maidens, 
who  were  led  out  into  the  sands  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Solway  at  low  water,  bound  to  stakes,  and 
left  there  to  drown  when  the  tide  should  come  in 
and  cover  them. 


CHAPTER  XLII. 

CARLISLE-BARROW-IN-FURNESS  ~  COAL  MINING  -  THE  ENGLISH 
POSTOFFICE— ENGLISH  WANTS  AND  FREE  TRADE  — CHEAP 
LIVING— LIGHT  WORK— OBEDIENCE  TO  LAW— CONCLUSION. 

00]^"  after  passing  the  river  Solway  the  train 
enters  the  splendid  station  at  Carlisle.  The 
castle  at  the  time  of  our  visit  was  closed  to 
the  public,  so  we  had  to  content  ourselves  with  a 
visit  to  the  curious  old  cathedral.  It  is  a  queer 
architectural  Jumble.  Originally  a  JSTorman  struc- 
ture of  the  eleventh  century,  the  choir  was  pulled 
down  in  the  fourteenth  to  give  place  to  a  larger 
and  more  beautiful  one  in  the  pointed  Gothic 
style.  In  connecting  it  with  the  central  tower 
and  transepts  the  old  arches  were  walled  up  and 
new  ones  cut  through  to  suit  the  new  structure. 
The  result  is  a  curious  confusion  of  Norman  and 
Gothic  moldings  and  fragmentary  arches.  Later 
an  attempt  was  made  to  carry  up  the  tower  to  a 
much  greater  height,  which  caused  the  piers  to 
settle  at  least  a  foot,  with  the  effect  upon  the 
semi-circular  arches  of  the  adjoining  bays  of  the 
nave  and  transepts  that  may  be  imagined.  Such 
queerly  distorted  arches  are  probably  nowhere 
else  to  be  found.     To  save  further  disaster  thirty 


442  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

feet  of  the  tower  had  to  be  taken  off.  Still  later, 
to  wit,  during  the  rebellion,  about  the  middle  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  to  provide  stone  for  the 
fortifying  of  the  city,  four- fifths  of  the  nave  was 
pulled  down,  and  thus  the  church  was  left  in  a 
sort  of  stump-tail  condition,  with  a  nave  of  only 
two  or  three  bays.  Despite  its  mutilated  state 
the  church  is  very  interesting  for  the  history  that 
can  be  read  in  its  stones. 

It  is  further  interesting  as  being  the  burial 
place  of  William  Paley,  D.  D.,  the  author  of  the 
well-known  "Evidences  of  Christianity,"  and 
other  popular  theological  works. 

We  are  now  in  Cumberland,  a  county  of  charm- 
ing landscapes.  Beautiful  green  hills,  thrifty 
hedgerows,  spreading  trees,  picturesque  thatched 
cottages,  ivy-grown  old  castles,  romantic  baronial 
halls  and  ancient  church  towers  peeping  out 
above  the  foliage,  greet  the  eye  every  rod  of  the 
way. 

We  branch  off  from  the  main  line  to  visit  the 
old  ruin  of  Furness  Abbey  and,  close  by,  the 
modern  town  of  Barrow-in-Furness,  which  has 
grown  up  within  forty  years,  from  the  proximity 
of  valuable  mines  of  iron  ore.  Barrow  is  on  the 
sea  coast,  and  very  extensive  docks  have  been 
constructed  there.  It  is  likewise  the  seat  of  the 
most  extensive  Bessemer  steel  works  in  the  world, 
and  of  extensive  ship-building  interests. 


ENGLISH  IRON  AND  COAL.  443 

In  England  iron  ships  have  entirely  superseded 
wooden  ones,  and  steam  has  almost  as  entirely 
supplanted  sail  power.  Only  now  and  then  is  a 
sail  vessel  built  on  the  Clyde  or  the  Tyne,  while 
steamships  are  turned  out  by  the  score,  and  a 
wooden-built  vessel  is  a  very  exceptional  thing 
indeed.  If  well  taken  care  of  an  iron  vessel  will 
last  for  a  century  at  least.  Iron  is  cheaper  than 
wood  in  Europe  for  all  purposes  to  which  it  can 
be  applied.  One  application  which  I  noticed  was 
for  telegraph  poles. 

Noting  the  great  consumption  of  fuel  in  the 
manufacturing  districts  of  the  north  of  England, 
I  inquired  of  a  large  operator  if  he  had  no  fears 
of  the  exhaustion  of  the  British  coal  fields. 
"  None  at  all !  "  he  replied.  "  We  have  only  to 
go  a  little  deeper  from  time  to  time,  and  fresh 
veins  are  reached.  It  will  be  centuries  at  least 
before  the  coal  fields  of  England  are  worked  out." 

He  then  went  on  to  tell  me  of  one  mine  the 
workings  of  which  extended  under  the  sea  for  a 
long  distance.  In  sinking  the  shaft  for  it  great 
trouble  was  experienced  from  the  inflow  of  water. 
At  one  point  a  stratum  of  rock  one  hundred  feet 
thick  had  to  be  penetrated  with  a  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  of  water  overlying  it.  But  English 
engineering  was  equal  to  the  task.  The  shaft  was 
thirteen  feet  in  diameter  and  a  hole  of  that  size 
was  literally  drilled  through  the  entire  one  hun- 


444  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

dred  feet  of  rock.  The  metliod  was  substantially 
the  same  as  that  employed  in  sinking  oil  or  salt 
wells,  but  the  bit  or  cutting  tool,  instead  of  hav- 
ing an  edge  a  few  inches  wide,  had  thirteen  feet 
of  cutting  edge  and  was  itself  an  immense  inverted 
T  of  iron  weighing  a  great  many  tons.  This  by 
a  pow^erful  engine  was  alternately  raised  and 
dropped,  with  a  gradually  revolving  motion,  until 
the  stratum  of  rock  was  entirely  cut  through. 
The  shaft  was  then  tubed  wdth  iron,  the  water 
pumped  out,  and  further  sinking  proceeded  with- 
out anything  more  than  the  ordinary  trouble 
from  water,  the  stratum  of  rock  that  had  been 
pierced  effectually  shutting  out  all  from  above. 

From  Barrow  we  proceeded  to  Liverpool,  pass- 
ing through  Wigan,  a  famous  colliery  district. 
At  Liverpool  I  had  occasion  to  visit  the  post- 
office.  The  English  post  offices  very  little  resemble 
ours,  but  are  more  like  banks.  The  delivery  sys- 
tem is  so  general  and  complete  that  a  very  few 
pigeon  holes  suffice  for  the  "general  delivery," 
or  2)0816  restante^  as  the  Europeans  call  it.  The 
principal  business,  therefore,  of  the  postoffice,  or 
at  least  of  the  part  the  public  has  to  do  with,  is 
the  receipt  of  telegrams — the  uniform  price  of 
which  for  twenty  words  to  any  part  of  the  coun- 
try is  a  shilling,  or  twenty-four  cents — the  issue 
and  payment  of  money  orders,  the  receipt  of 
money  on  deposit  and  repayment  of  the  same 


THE  ENGLISH  POSTOFFICE.  445 

with  interest  when  called  for,  the  x)urchase  and 
sale  of  government  stocks,  and  the  insuring  of 
lives.  The  policy  may  be  questioned  of  govern- 
ment thus  engaging  in  the  life  insurance  business, 
but  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  propriety  of  its 
thus  offering  the  broadest  facilities  for  taking  the 
poor  man' s  savings  in  sums  of  from  one  shilling 
up  to  thirty  pounds  and  paying  him  interest 
upon  them  with  all  the  guarantees  of  safety  that 
attach  to  loans  to  the  government. 

Money  orders  are  issued  at  much  lower  rates 
than  with  us.  For  sums  under  ten  shillings 
($2.40)  the  charge  is  two  pence  (four  cents),  for 
sums  up  to  ten  dollars  it  is  six  cents,  and  it  only 
reaches  ten  cents  where  the  amount  exceeds 
fifteen  dollars.  Another  kind  of  postal  order  is 
also  issued  by  which  twenty-four  or  thirty-six 
cents  can  be  remitted  at  a  cost  of  one  cent ;  ten, 
twenty  or  thirty  shillings  at  a  cost  of  two  cents, 
etc.  Why  cannot  we  have  an  equally  liberal  sys- 
tem in  this  country  ? 

At  Liverpool  we  bid  good-bye  to  European  soil 
and  go  aboard  our  homeward  bound  steamer. 
The  number  of  passengers  coming  this  way  is 
very  large,  and  it  takes  a  long  time  to  get  all 
the  baggage  aboard.  At  last  we  weigh  anchor 
and  steam  down  the  Mersey.  In  a  few  hours  we 
are  in  the  rough  sea  of  the  channel,  and  in  some- 
thing less  than   twenty-four    hours    put    in    at 


446  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

Queenstown  for  the  mails  wMch  have  been  for- 
warded thither  by  rail. 

Our  homeward  trip  was  a  rough  one,  partly 
because  of  westerly  winds,  but  mainly  because 
our  steamer  was  sailing  light  or  simply  ''in 
ballast"  as  to  cargo.  Going  out  the  steamers 
are  heavily  loaded  with  grain,  flour  and  other 
agricultural  products,  but  coming  this  way,  owing 
to  our  protective  tariff,  which  keeps  out  foreign 
products,  cargoes  are  hard  to  be  obtained,  and  the 
railroad  iron  and  a  few  other  things  that  do  offer, 
have  to  be  carried  at  merely  nominal  rates.  The 
result  is  the  farmer's  grain  has  to  pay  double  for 
transportation  what  it  would  if  return  cargoes 
were  obtainable,  and  thus  in  one  particular,  at 
least,  does  the  entire  cost  of  protection  fall  upon 
the  shoulders  of  the  tillers  of  the  soil. 

Under  a  different  system  England  with  her 
twenty-five  millions  of  inhabitants  would  look  to 
us  almost  for  her  entire  bread  supply,  for  grain  is 
raised  there  under  great  disadvantages.  The 
great  drawback  is  the  excessive  moisture  of  the 
climate,  which  keeps  the  crops  green  and  pre- 
vents their  ripening.  Thus  when  the  wheat  and 
oats  reach  a  degree  of  maturity  which  in  America 
would  betoken  the  putting  in  of  the  reaper  in  a 
few  days  at  farthest,  in  England  and  Scotland 
you  see  them  remain  for  weeks  without  apparent 
progress  towards  ripening.     This  is  terribly  dis- 


ENGLISH  AGRICULTURE.  447 

couraging  to  tlie  farmers,  especially  after  the  cool 
and  shortening  days  of  September  arrive. 

But  the  same  damp  climate  that  is  so  preju- 
dicial to  the  grain  crops  makes  the  country  at  all 
times  beautifully  green  and  renders  it  one  of  the 
gardens  of  the  world  in  its  wealth  of  flowers. 
Every  house  down  to  the  meanest  cottage  has  its 
flower  garden,  or  if  that  is  impossible,  its  window 
sills  are  filled  with  pots  of  geraniums  or  other 
plants,  and  all  seem  to  flourish  so  admirably  and 
to  be  so  prolific  in  bloom. 

The  striking  contrast  in  the  scenery  between 
England  and  the  continent  lies  very  largely  in  the 
hedgerows.  On  the  continent  no  ground  is  wasted 
on  partition  fences  of  any  kind,  and  one  may 
almost  travel  all  day  without  seeing  a  fence, 
while  in  England  the  farms  are  not  only  fenced, 
but  are  cut  up  into  very  small  fields,  and  of  the 
most  irregular  shapes  imaginable.  Then  for 
fences  the  hawthorn  hedge  is  almost  universally 
used,  with  a  picturesqueness  of  effect  not  easily 
described. 

Another  striking  feature  of  the  country  is  the 
admirable  roads  they  are  able  to  maintain.  The 
country  roads,  as  well  as  the  residence  streets  of 
the  towns  and  cities,  are  all  macadamized.  Being 
graded,  a  layer  of  broken  stone  is  spread  over  the 
surface  with  a  little  gravel.  A  hose  is  then 
turned  on  and  the  whole  thoroughly  saturated 


448  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

with  water.  Then  a  heavy  steam  roller  passes 
over  backwards  and  forwards  till  the  whole  is  as 
smooth  as  a  floor  and  as  solid  as  native  rock.  The 
road  will  then  last  for  years  without  further 
repair.  When  it  does  become  uneven  the  pro- 
cess of  restoration  is  very  simple  and  cheap.  A 
gang  of  men  with  pickaxes  go  over  it  and  loosen 
up  the  old  stones,  some  new  ones  are  added, 
with  a  little  more  gravel,  more  water,  and  a  day 
of  the  steam  roller,  and  the  street  is  as  good  as 
new.  The  steam  roller  has  become  as  indispen- 
sable to  the  English  road-makers  as  the  pick  and 
shovel,  and  it  might  well  be  introduced  into  this 
country  more  generally. 

Notwithstanding  that  England  has  to  import 
most  of  her  grain  the  cost  of  living  is  much  less 
than  with  us.  IS'o where  in  this  country  do  the 
bakers'  shops  furnish  such  nice  bread  and  cakes 
and  at  such  cheap  rates.  At  Glasgow  I  was  able 
to  procure  a  substantial  lunch  of  buns  and  Ban- 
bury cakes  with  a  glass  of  milk  for  the  trifling 
sum  of  six  cents.  House  rent,  I  think,  can  scarce 
be  more  than  a  third  what  it  is  with  us,  while 
clothing  and  almost  every  necessary  of  life  is  very 
much  cheaper — even  commodities  imported  from 
America  being  often  retailed  at  lower  prices  than 
at  home.  On  the  whole,  upon  a  given  income 
people  live  more  comfortably  in  England  than  in 
America.     Of  course  for  people  with  large  fami- 


WORK  AND  WAGES.  449 

lies  and  without  capital,  and  for  those  engaged  in 
the  too  well  beaten  avenues  of  trade,  there  is  a 
serious  repressing  influence  at  work  in  excessive 
competition;  but,  perhaps,  not  much  more  so 
than  in  our  own  country.  For  men  of  brains, 
push,  and  energy,  I  fancy  there  are  quite  as  good 
opportunities  in  England  as  even  with  us.  Cer- 
tainly a  great  number  of  people  have  been  pointed 
out  to  me  who  beginning  life  in  the  humblest 
circumstances  have  become  wealthy. 

And  living  cheaply,  the  British  people  do  not 
overwork  themselves.  Walking  through  Glas- 
gow, for  instance,  at  half  past  nine  in  the  fore- 
noon, we  see  scarcely  half  the  stores  open,  and  at 
the  time  of  our  visit  most  of  them  contained 
notices  in  the  windows  that  they  would  be  closed 
altogether  on  the  following  Thursday,  because, 
forsooth,  the  Queen  was  going  to  msit  EdiJiburgh 
on  that  day.  I  went  into  a  barber's  shop  at 
Edinburgh  after  four  o'  clock  one  Saturday  after- 
noon, and  was  coolly  told  I  would  have  to  come 
again  on  Monday,  as  they  did  no  work  after 
four.  At  Bristol  a  case  came  to  my  notice  where 
a  dressmaker  was  summoned  to  appear  before  a 
magistrate  and  fined  for  simply  permitting  one  of 
her  assistants,  who  did  it  of  her  own  free  will,  to 
work  after  four  o'clock  on  Saturday,  the  law 
being  peremptory  that  work-people  must  not  be 
kept  later  than  that  hour.     I  verily  believe  that, 


450  FIVE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 

despite  the  low  wages  of  the  British  workmen, 
they  are  fullj^  as  well  paid  in  proportion  to  the 
work  they  accomplish,  as  our  own ;  though, 
irrespective  of  the  amount  of  work  done, 
our  American  wages  sound  fabulously  high  to 
them.  On  the  continent  it  is  different.  In 
Antwerp,  girls  are  employed  in  the  cotton  fac- 
tories sixteen  hours  a  day  for  the  pittance  of  two 
francs,  or  thirty- eight  cents  a  day.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  clamor  in  England  now  is  for  the  reduc- 
tion of  the  hours  of  the  legal  working  day  from 
ten  to  nine. 

And  this  reminds  me  that,  judging  from  exter- 
nal appearances,  there  is  in  Great  Britain  but  a 
mere  fraction  of  the  lawlessness  and  criminality 
that  we  are  exposed  to  at  home.  I  presume  the 
laws  are  there  more  rigidly  enforced  than  with 
us,  for  in  almost  any  part  of  London  ladies  can  be 
out  up  to  a  late  hour  in  the  evening  unattended ; 
no  householder  ever  for  a  moment  worries  him- 
self about  burglars  ;  no  one  ever  dares  to  claim 
another  party's  baggage  on  the  railway  platform, 
although  there  is  no  check  used,  and  every  one  is 
allowed  to  take  what  baggage  he  claims  without 
a  question  being  asked  ;  room  doors  at  hotels  are 
rarely  locked  during  the  day,  and  murderous 
assaults  are  scarcely,  if  at  all,  more  numerous 
than  cold-blooded,  willful  murders,  which,  of 
course,  is  a  phase  of  crime  that  no  laws  or  penal- 


RESPECT  FOR  LAW.  451 

ties  can  check.  Dishonesty  is  severely  dealt  with 
in  England,  whether  it  be  the  case  of  the  boy  who 
pilfers  an  apple,  or  the  bank  teller  who  misuses 
the  funds  with  which  he  is  entrusted.  That 
assaults  are  less  numerous  than  with  us,  is,  per- 
haps, owing  in  large  measure  to  the  restrictions 
that  are  placed  upon  the  carrying  of  firearms  of 
any  sort.  To  carry  a  gun  or  pistol  without  a 
license  is  a  serious  offense.  Still,  there  is  no 
infraction  of  personal  liberty  in  the  matter,  for 
anybody  of  any  degree  of  respectability  can  pro- 
cure a  license  upon  simply  paying  a  fee  of  thirty 
shillings  ($7.50).  Those  who  need  weapons  do 
not  mind  the  tax,  while  those  who  have  no  law- 
ful use  for  them  are  naturally  chary  about  apply- 
ing for  licenses.  The  system  is  a  good  one,  and 
something  like  it  would  be  a  fine  thing  in  our 
own  countrj^. 

Ten  days  at  sea,  and  we  sail  up  the  beautiful 
harbor  of  ;N"ew  York,  We  stop  an  hour  or  two 
at  quarantine  for  medical  examination,  then  pro- 
ceed to  our  landing  pier.  Here  every  passenger 
has  to  sign  a  declaration  setting  forth  the  number 
of  pieces  of  baggage  he  has,  and  whether  or 
not  they  contain  dutiable  articles,  and  to  what 
amount.  Then  inspectors  go  through  the  baggage 
and  verify  the  truth  of  the  declaration.  If  decep- 
tion has  been  attempted  the  goods  are  confis- 
cated.    Otherwise  an  appraiser  sets  a  value  on 


452 


FIYE  MONTHS  ABROAD. 


the  articles  that  should  pay  duty,  and  the  same 
is  collected  on  the  spot.  In  general,  the  duty 
and  expenses  bring  the  cost  of  everything  up  to 
about  what  would  have  to  be  paid  at  home  for 
the  same  article,  so  it  only  pays  to  bring  back 
such  things  as  cannot  be  purchased  at  home. 

New  York  looks  very  dirty  in  contrast  with 
the  cities  we  have  seen  abroad,  and  the  whole 
country  unpicturesque  and  prosaic,  and  one  of 
the  first  things  we  do  on  reaching  home  is  to 
resolve  that,  sooner  or  later,  we  will  repeat  the 
trip. 


INDEX. 


Abbeys,  Ancient,  318,  395. 
Abbotsford,  419. 

Agriculture  in  Germany,  69;  in  Eng- 
land, 447. 
Aix-la-Chapelle,  51. 
Albert  Memorial  Chapel,  333. 
Albert  Memorial  Hall,  35. 
Alsatian  costume,  207. 
American  Exchange  in  Europe,  255. 
American  Painters,  287. 
Angelo  {see  Michel  Angelo). 
Antiquities  in  British  Museum,  284. 
Antiquities  of  Bristol,  353. 
Antwerp,  Description  of,  48. 
Apennines,  Journey  across  the,  98. 
Appian  Way,  147. 
Arcaded  streets,  156. 
Arcades  at  Bern,  194. 
Arcade  at  Milan,  161. 
Arc  de  Triomphe,  215. 
Architectural  distortions,  385. 
Archives  of  France,  238. 
Arena  at  Verona,  78. 
Arnolfo  di  Cambio,  102. 
Arona,  164. 

Art  school  of  Paris,  240. 
Austen,  Jane,  Grave  of,  344. 
Autographs  in  British  Mujeum,  283. 


Bale,  198. 

Barrow-in-Furness,  443. 

Bastile,  The,  219. 

Bastile,  Destruction  of  the,  227. 

Bath,  334;  Bath  Abbey,  335. 

Battle-fields  of  Italy,  155. 

Bavaria,  description  of  country,  72. 

Bavaria,  Statue  of,  67. 

Beatrice  Cenci,  126. 

Belgium,  description  of  country,  41, 

47;  history  of ,  46. 
BeUini,  171. 
Bern,  193. 

Berwick-upon-Tweed,  401. 
Beverley  Minster,  389. 
Bickersteth,  Rev.  Edward,  386. 
Bingen,  58. 


Birmingham,  381. 

Black  Country,  The,  383. 

Bois  de  Boulogne,  231. 

Bologna,  96. 

Borromean  Isles,  165. 

Botzen,  77. 

Boulevards  of  Paris,  211. 

Boy  bishops,  Account  of,  346. 

Brenner  Pass  Railway,  76. 

Bridge  of  Sighs,  94. 

Bridges,  Rev.  Thos.,  Story  of,  356. 

Brieg,  180. 

Brighton,  254. 

Bristol,  351,  358. 

British  Museum,  281. 

Bronze  foundry  at  Munich,  66. 

Browning,  Mrs.,  Tomb  of,  102. 

Brunelleschi,  Filippo,  103. 

Brunswick  Monument,  Geneva,  191. 

Brussels  described,  43. 

Building  in  Geneva,  191 ;  in  Munich, 

68;  in  Paris,  213;   in  Rome,  125; 

Italian,  166;  Ancient  Roman,  144, 
Bums,  Robert,  Tomb  of,  437. 
Butler,  Joseph,  Bishop  of  Bristol, 

355. 


Callander,  427. 

Calton  Hill,  Edinburgh,  403. 

Calvary,  description  of  one  at  Ant- 
werp, 49. 

Calvin,  John,  189. 

Cameos,  138. 

Campanile  of  St.  Mark's,  Venice,  93. 

Campo  Santo  at  Pisa,  152. 

Canaletto,  175. 

Canals  of  Venice,  87. 

Carlisle,  441. 

Carracci,  The,  175. 

Castle  of  St.  Angelo,  126. 

Castles  on  the  Rhine,  57. 

Catacombs  of  Rome,  149. 

Cafharine  de  Medici,  116. 

Cathedral  defined,  317;  Oflficers  of, 
317;  Plan  of,  319. 

Cathedral  service,  Beauty  of,  327. 

Cathedral  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  51 ;  at 
Antwerp,  48;  at  Brussels,  44;  at 


454 


INDEX 


Cologne,  53;  at  Florence,  102;  at 
Freiburg,  193;  at  Geneva,  190;  at 
Milan,  159;  at  Pisa,  151;  at  Strass- 
burg,  205;  Bristol,  360;  Carlisle, 
441;  Durham,  398;  Ely,  309;  Exe- 
ter, 340;  Glasgow,  4a3;  Gloucester, 
366;  Lichfield,  384;  Lincoln,  388; 
New  Episcopal,  at  Edinburgh,  404; 
Ripon,  392;  St.  Giles's,  407;  St. 
Paul's,  268;  St.  Peter's,  127;  Salis- 
bury, 345;  Winchester,  342;  Wor- 
cester, 367;  York,  390. 

Chambers,  W.  &  R.,  408. 

Charaounix,  Valley  of,  183. 

Chapter  House  defined,  320. 

Charity,  An  ancient,  379. 

Charlemagne's  tomb,  52. 

Chatterton,  Thomas,  Story  of,  357. 

Chepstow  Castle,  364. 

Cherubini,  Tomb  of,  105. 

Chester,  23. 

Choral  service,  Beauty  of,  327. 

Churches  of  Paris,  2:37. 

Church  of  England,  Controversy  in, 
324;  how  supported,  328. 

Church  restoration,  323. 

Cimabue,  170. 

City  of  London,  260. 

Claude  Loraine,  243, 

ClementVII.,  Pope,  117. 

Cloisters  defined,  320. 

Clyde,  Deepening  of  the  river,  435. 

Coal  fields  of  England,  443. 

Coblenz,  Description  of,  58. 

Coinage  of  Germany,  69. 

Coleridge,  S.  T.,  Marriage  of,  35G. 

Cologne,  Description  of,  52. 

Colosseum,  The,  145. 

Columbus,  Birthplace  of,  155. 

Communion  service  at  Bern,  196. 

Congregational  chapel.  An  English, 
382. 

Constantine  the  Great,  392. 

Cook's  tickets,  37. 

Copyhold  explained,  303. 

Coronation  Chair,  279. 

Correggio,  174. 

Cosimo  de  Medici,  112. 

Cosimo  I.  of  Florence,  117. 

Cost  of  living  in  England,  448. 

Council  of  Bale,  199. 

Covenanters,  Persecution  of  the, 
439. 

Coventry,  378. 

Cremation  at  Milan,  162. 

Crime,  Repression  of,  in  England,451. 

Crusaders'  tombs.  Symbolism  of, 
369. 

Crystal  Palace,  298. 

Cimaberland,  442. 

Customs,  American,  how  passed, 
452. 

Customs  extortions,  202. 

Customs  inspections  in  England,  254. 


Deans  of  Cathedrals,  318. 

Decorated  Gothic,  322. 

Deflected  churches,  861,  885. 

Del  Sarto,  Andrea,  175. 

DeStael,  Madame,  189. 

Dieppe,  252. 

Diligence  described,  177,  187. 

Dome  of  cathedral  at  Florence,  104. 

Dome  of  St.  Peter's,  130. 

Dominichino,  175. 

Downing  street,  273. 

Dryburgh  Abbey,  421. 

Dumfries,  436. 

Durer,  Albert,  64. 

Durham,  398. 

Dutch  painters,  290. 

Dante,  Monumental  tomb  to,  105. 

Darlington,  397. 

Darnley,  Murder  of,  414. 


Edinburgh,  402;  Population  of,  417. 

Egbert,  King,  Coffin  of,  343. 

Eildon  Hills,  422. 

Elgin  marbles,  285. 

Ely,  City  of,  308. 

Ely,  Civil  jurisdiction  of  bishops  of, 

England  a   religious   country,    32^. 

General  appearance  of,  330,  341; 

Geographical  center  of,  377. 
English  painters.  287. 
Epping  Forest,  3(>4. 
Erasmus,  199. 
Exeter,  389. 
Exposition,  Italian,  of  1881,  10* 


Firearms,  Restriction  on  carrying,  in 
England,  451. 

Flemish  painters,  289. 

Florence,  100. 

Flowers  in  England,  447. 

Era  Angelico,  171. 

Fra  Bartolommeo,  174. 

France,  Travel  through,  208. 

Frankfort-on-the-Main,  59. 

Franklin,  his  London  residence,  271. 

Free  Trade,  effect  on  sugar  inter- 
ests, 352 ;  views  of  an  English  man- 
ufacturer, 383. 

Freiburg,  193. 

French  sugar  protection,  352. 

Foundling  Hospital,  36, 

Fountain's  Abbey,  394. 

Funeral  in  Italy,  153. 

Fumess  Abbey,  442. 


INDEX, 


455 


Galileo,  151;  Tomb  of,  104. 

Gallerie  Vittorio  JSmanuele,  161. 

Geneva,  189.  ' 

Genoa,  155. 

German  painters,  291. 

Ghiberti,  Lorenzt),  105. 

Gibbon,  Edward,  193. 

Giotto,  8.2,  102, 170. 

Giotto's  Campanile,  Florence,  105. 

Glaciers,  Theory  and  description  of, 

184. 
Glasgow,  431,  434. 
Gloucester,  366. 
Godiva,  Lady,  380. 
Goethe,  Birthplace  of,  61. 
Gondola  riding,  86, 93. 
Gothic  architecture,  321. 
Government  of  Switzerland,  197. 
Gretna  Green,  439. 
Greuze,  243. 
Grouse  shooting,  429. 
Guido  Reni,  175. 
Guillotine,  The,  297. 
Gutenberg,  Account  of,  59. 

H 

Hairbrushing  by  machinery,  306. 

Hall,  Rev  Robert,  353. 

Havergal,  Rev.Wm.  H.,  and  Frances 
Ridley,  369. 

Hedgerows  in  England,  447. 

Henry  IV.  of  Fran-e,  117,  223. 

Heralds,  College  of,  315. 

High  and  Low  church  controversy, 
324. 

Highlands  of  Scotland,  427;  a  High- 
land farm,  429. 

Hill,  Rev.  Rowland,  355. 

Hofer,  Andrew,  73. 

Holidays  in  England,  35,  370. 

Holyrood  Palace,  412. 

Homeward  voyage,  446. 

Honiton,  342. 

Hooper,  John,  Martyrdom  of,  307. 

Hotel  at  Brussels,  42;  in  England,  25 ; 
at  Paris,  210. 

Hotel  de  Ville,  Paris,  218. 

Hudson,  George,  the  railway  king, 
392. 

Hull,  389. 

Huntingdon,  Lady,  355. 

I 

Inn,  An  English  country,  311. 
Innsbruck,  73. 

Intemperance  in  Scotland,  436. 
Invalides,  The,  220. 
Italian  Exposition  of  1881,  163. 
Italv ,  Description  of  the  country,  82 ; 
of  the  people,  125. 


James,  Rev.  John  Angell,  382. 
Jardin  des  Plantes,  219. 
Jenner,  Dr.  Edward,  357,  367. 
Johnson,  Dr.  Samuel,  386. 

K 

Kenilworth  Castle,  877. 
Knox,  John,  409. 
Kufstem,  73. 


Lace  factories  of  Brn-^sels,  45. 

Ladv  Chapel  defined,  321. 

Lady  of  the  Lake,  428. 

Land  tenure  in  England,  303. 

Languages,  Diversity  of,  in  Belgiuna, 
50. 

Lateran,  Church  of  the,  133. 

Latitude  of  European  cities,  300. 

Lausanne,  192. 

Law  practice  in  England,  301. 

Leamington,  377. 

Leaning  Tower  of  Pisa,  152. 

Leonardo  da  Vinci,  171 ;  his  Last  Sup- 
per, 162. 

Leo  X.,  History  of,  115. 

Library  of  British  Museum,  282. 

Lichfield,  384. 

Limited  hability  companies,  30"). 

Lincoln,  388. 

Lindisfarne,  401. 

Liverpool,  20. 

Loch  Katrine,  430. 

London,  Greneral  plan  of,  2,12;  Gov- 
ernment of,  260;  Magnitude  of. 
259;  museums  and  galleries,  285; 
the  world's  market,  256. 

Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,  113. 

Louis  Philippe,  229. 

Louis  Xm.,  225. 

Louis  XIV.,  225. 

Louis  XVL,  Reign  of.  227;  Grave  of, 
228. 

Louvre,  The,  217,  242. 

Low  Church  methods,  326. 

Luxembourg,  The,  220, 241. 

M 

McLeod,  Rev.  Norman,  433. 
Madeleine,  Church  of  the,  216. 
Malthus,  Rev.  T.  R.,  Epitaph  of,  337. 
Mamertine  Prison,  Rome,  150. 
Mantegna,  Andrea,  82,  171. 
Marie  de  Medici,  117,  224. 
IVlarkham's  History  of  England,  389. 
Marrying  in  England,  439. 
Marshal  Saxe's  monument,  206. 
Martigny,  180. 
Mary,  Queen,  Marriage  of,  343. 


456 


INDEX. 


Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  412. 

Maximilian's  tomb,  74. 

Mayence,  58. 

Mediaeval  sculpture,  193. 

Medici,  origin  of  the  family,  IIS. 

Mexrose  Abbey,  418. 

Mentz,  58. 

Merivale,  Dean,  310. 

Michel  Angelo,  172;  Tomb  of,  104, 

Milan,  159. 

Money,  Italian,    166;  French,    25.3; 

German,  69. 
Mont  Blanc,  183, 186,  189. 
Moore,  Sir  John,  435. 
Mosaics,    Florentine,   111:    Roman, 

139. 
Mosaics  in  St.  Mark's,  91. 
MuUer's  orphan  houses,  361. 
Mimich,  65. 
Murillo,  175. 
Museum  of  City  of  London,  268. 

N 

Napoleon  Bonaparte,  Regime  of,  228. 

Napoleon's  tomb,  220. 

Nash,  Beau,  Epitaph  of,  336. 

National  Galleiy,  London,  286. 

National  portrait  gallery  of  Eng- 
land, 294 

Natural  history  museum,  London, 
295. 

Necker,  James,  189. 

Newcastle-on-Tyne,  400. 

New  York,  Arrival  at,  452. 

Ney,  Marshal,  Story  of,  233. 

Niobe,  Story  of,  108. 

Norman  architecture,  321. 

Nuremberg,  63. 


Oberlin,  Professor,  207. 
Octroi  duty  explained,  80. 
Old  Italian  masters,  170. 
OldSamm,  347. 
Omnibuses  of  Paris,  234. 
Opera  House,  Grand,  Paris,  217. 


Padua,  Description  of,  80. 
Palaces  of  the  Caesars,  143. 
Palace  of  Justice,  Paris,  236. 
Palais  Roy  ale,  Paris,  235. 
Palazzo  Riccardi,  Florence,  117. 
Palazzo  Vecchio,  Florence,  106. 
Paley,  Rev.  Wm.,  Tomb  of,  442. 
Pantheon,  Rome,  147. 
Papal  vanity,  131. 
Paris,  General  description  of,  213. 
Parish  registers,  312. 


Park  of  Versailles,  245. 

Parker,  Rev.  Theodore,  Tomb  of ,  102. 

ParlianifMit,  Houses  of,  274. 

Pauperism,  Absence  of,  in  Germany, 
70. 

Penn.  Admiral,  355. 

Pere  la  Chaise,  231. 

Perpendicular  Gothic,  323. 

Perugino,  171. 

Picture  galleries  generally  consid- 
ered, 292. 

Pictures,  Mediaeval,  167. 

Pinakotheks,  The,  at  Munich,  66. 

Pisa,  Description  of,  151 ;  History  of, 
153. 

Pitti  Palace,  Florence,  108. 

Place  de  la  Concorde,  214. 

Poet's  Corner,  277. 

Pole,  Cardinal,  389. 

Politics  in  France,  252. 

Ponte  Vecchio,  Florence,  109. 

Po,  River,  Valley  of,  155. 

Portrait  gallery  at  Versailles,  245. 

Pustoffice  at  Rome,  137. 

Postoflace  system  of  England,  444. 

Pousin,  243. 

Preparation  for  journey,  14. 

Pretender,  Tomb  of  tlie,  129. 

Princess  of  AVales,  265. 

Printing,  Invention  of,  59. 

Prints,  Department  of,  in  British 
Museum,  284. 

Pi'ofanity,  Small  amount  of,  in  Eng- 
land, 307. 

Protection  injurious  to  farmers,  446; 
effects  illustrated  in  case  of 
French  sugar,  352. 

Protestant  Cemetery,  Florence,  101; 
at  Rome,  137. 

Pyrotechnics  in  England,  299. 


Raikes,  Robert,  366,  367. 
Railway,  The  first,  397. 
Railways,  English,  28;  Swiss,  199. 
Raphael,  173;  his  pictures  at  Flor- 
ence, 107, 110;  his  cartoons,  294 
Ravaillac,  Punishment  of,  224. 
Record  office,  London,  315. 
RedcUfl  church,  Bristol,  359. 
Regent  Mm-ray,  409. 
Religious  character  of  England,  323. 
Respect  for  law  in  England,  450. 
Revolution  of  July,  229. 
Rhine,  Trip  up  the,  56. 
Rhone  valley,  180. 
Rialto,  The,  95. 
Richard  I.,  Tomb  of,  251. 
Richelieu.  Cardinal,  225. 
Ripon,  392. 

Rizzio,  Murder  of,  413. 
Roads  in  England,  448. 
Romano,  Gulio,  175. 


INDEX. 


457 


Home,  Description  of,  122,  140;  Walls 
of,  123;  Archaeological  excavations 
in,  141. 

Rosa,  Saivator,  175. 

Rosetta  stone,  284. 

Roslin  Chapel,  423. 

Rothschild  family.  Rise  of,  61. 

Rouen,  251. 

Rousseau,  J.  J.,  189. 

Route,  How  to  select,  13. 

Royal  Academy,  291. 

Royal  forests,  303. 

Rubens,  P.  P.,  48. 


St.  Anthony,  Shrine  of,  81. 

St.  Carlo  Borromeo,  164. 

St.  Croce,  Florence,  Church  of,  104. 

St.  Cuthbert,  Tomb  of,  398,  400. 

St.  Denis,  Abbey  Church  of,  216. 

St.  George's  Chapel,  Windsor,  333. 

St.  Gudule,  Brussels,  Church  of,  44. 

St.  Mark,  Legend  of,  91. 

St.  Mark's  Church,  Venice,  89. 

St.  Mark's  Convent,  Florence,  118. 

St.  Mark's  Piazza,  Venice,  88. 

St.  Paul's,  London,  268. 

St.  Paul's,  Rome,  134. 

St.  Peter's,  Rome,  127. 

St.  Wilfred's  Needle,  394. 

Salisbury,  345;  Salisbury  Plain,  347. 

Sallanches,  188. 

Salon,  The  French,  241. 

Sansovino,  Venetian  architect,  81. 

Sassoferrata,  Italian  painter,  175. 

Savonarola,  Jerome,  119. 

Say,  Jean  Baptiste,  189. 

Scaligers,  Tombs  of  the,  79. 

Scotch  churches,  432. 

Scott's  Monument,  Edinburgh,  404. 

Scott,  Sir  Walter,  424. 

Scripps  family,  History  of,  312. 

Seine,  The,  247. 

Services  at  St.  Giles's,  Edinburgh, 

409. 
Sevres  porcelain  factory,  347. 
Shakspeare'a    birthplace,   370;    his 

tomb,  373. 
Shelley's  grave,  137. 
Shipbuilding,  443. 
Shops  of  Paris,  234. 
Shot  tower,  first  one  erected,  358. 
Shovel  board,  how  played,  18. 
Simplon  Pass  road,  178. 
Sismondi,  J.  C,  189. 
Sistine  Chapel,  Rome,  136. 
Smith,  Adam,  Burial  place  of,  412, 
Smith,  Sidney,  355. 
Smoke  of  London,  255. 
Solway,  The  river,  439. 
Southey  Robert,  Marriage  of,  356. 
South  Kensington  Museum,  293. 
Statuary,  Inferiority  of  English,  292. 


Stirling,  425;  castle,  426. 

Stonehenge,  347. 

Storks'  nests,  204. 

Straits  of  Dover,  40. 

Strassburg,  204. 

Stratford-on-Avon,  370. 

Streets  of  Paris,  212. 

Stuart  dynasty  of  Scotland,  412. 

Sunday  observance  in  Bavaria,  71; 
in  Italy,  97;  in  Paris,  236;  in  Rome, 
138;  in  Switzeriand,  195. 

Superga,  The,  158. 

Swiss  form  of  government,  197;  cos- 
tume, 200. 

Switzerland,  Extent  and  population 
of,  198. 


Table  d'hote,  43. 

Taylor,  Jeremy,  Prison  of,  364. 

Temperance  in  England,  307;  on  the 

continent,  252. 
TeteNoir  route,  181. 
Thames  Embankment,  270. 
Tintern  Abbey,  365. 
Tintoretto,  175. 
Titian,  172. 

Tomb  of  Csecilia  Metella,  148. 
Tombs  in  Westminster  Abbey,  277. 
Torquay,  340. 
Tower  of  London,  267. 
Tree  culture,  68. 
Trossachs,  428. 
Tuileries,  The,  214. 
Tunnels  between  Clenoa  and  Pisa, 

154. 
Turin,  Description  of,  156. 
Turner's  paintings,  288. 
Tussaud's  wax  works,  296. 
Twilight  in  England,  oOO. 
TyndalL  Wm.,  354:   Monument  to, 

366. 
Tyrol,  Description  of  the,  75. 

U 

Uflflzi  picture  gallery,  106. 


Vatican,  The,  135. 

Velasquez,  175. 

Vendome  Column,  216. 

Venerable  Bede,  The,  399. 

Venice,  Description  of,  85;  History 
of,  84. 

Venus  of  Milo,  242. 

Verona,  Description  of,  78. 

Veronese,  Paul,  175 

Versailles,  Description  of ,  243;  Foun- 
tains of,  226. 

Vestries  and  their  powers,  329. 


468 


INDEX 


Vineyards  on  the  Rhine,  56;  Various 

training  of,  82. 
Voyage,  The,  17. 

w 

Warwick  Castle,  375. 
Warwickshire,  38'2. 
Wellington's  funeral  car,  269. 
Wesley,  John,  355. 
West,  Benjamin,  287. 
Westminster  Abbey,  276. 
Westminster  Hall,  276. 
Westminster,  Palace  of,  274. 
Whitefield,  George,   Birthplace  of, 

367;  residence  at  Bristol,  355. 
Whitehall,  Banqueting  House,  273. 
Wilberf orce,  Bishop,  Tomb  of,  344. 


Wilberforce,Wm.,  Birthplace  of,  389. 

William  U.^Tomb  of,  343. 

William  of  Wykeham,  342;  Vicar  of 

Redcliff.  360. 
Winchester,  342;  college,  345, 
Windsor  Castle,  331. 
Wishart,  George,  434. 
Wood  Carvings,  at  Brussels,  44;  at 

Antwerp,  49;  in  the  Tyrol,  75;  at 

Venice,  93;   at  Beverley,  890;  at 

Bipon,  393. 
Worcester,  367. 
Wren,  Sir  Christopher,  269. 


York, 


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